Second Run
by ck-pasta
Summary: [SPOILERS] After the events of Bioshock Infinite, Booker finds himself back in his office. But when he checks on Anna she's not there. The Luteces return and explain to Booker what exactly happened; he realizes he has to start over and save Anna again. Booker finds himself in the same playing field as last time, but with a whole new set of cards.
1. A Miscalculation

_Disclaimer: All of these characters are borrowed from the game Bioshock: Infinite, and I do not own or have any rights to them. Oh, and there are major spoilers in this story. Don't read unless you've finished the game._

* * *

**Second Run - A Bioshock Infinite Fanfiction**

Chapter 1: A Miscalculation

By ck-pasta

Booker woke up from his desk, his head still spinning. He was attempting to recollect what exactly just happened. One moment he was going to kill Comstock from every universe, and the next three Elizabeths were drowning him. It was all a blur, but why did he remember it?

He stood up and walked over to his daughter's room. Did it work? Was she back?

"Anna? Are you there?" Booker asked. He slowly opened the door and the music of Anna's mobile became louder. He walked over to her crib and his face flushed. She wasn't there.

"No, no, no, no, NO!" Booker screamed. "This wasn't supposed to happen! Comstock is dead, he couldn't have taken her!" Booker dug through every object in the room, as if he would find Anna beneath one of them. "Where is she!?"

"Why ask where..." Booker immediately stopped. He knew what was going to be said next, and who was going to say it. "When the delicious question is when?"

Booker stood up and turned around. At the door were the Luteces, still dressed up in their unusual attire. Robert started to open his mouth to say something, but Booker intervened.

"You two! You lied to me! You lied to Elizabeth! You said that this would fix everything!"

"On the contrary, we never said anything like that. We were merely _experimenting._" The man said.

"_Experimenting?!_ That's what all this is to you? My life, my daughter, our future? None of that means anything?!"

"We hope you understand, we simply cannot care about _feelings_ anymore. We've seen a little over a hundred of you die already."

"Oh Robert, why even bother to explain? He's not going to understand." Chimed the woman.

"I think this is where you're wrong, sister. He's different from all the other tests we've done. A variable has changed."

"Oh you suppose, do you? And what exactly do you think has changed?"

"He's still alive here, isn't he?"

"Well, I suppose you're right there. But that doesn't change anything. We miscalculated, Robert."

"A simple miscalculation. We can easily fix this Rosalind."

"Wait, wait, wait. A _miscalculation?!_ That's what you call this?! My daughter is still missing, and Comstock's dead. Where is she?!"

"She's in Columbia, at Monument Tower. You see, she never left." Explained the woman.

"How's that possible? She drowned all of the would-be Comstocks back at Wounded Knee!"

"You explain it Robert. You're the one that's so interested in helping him."

"Fine. You see Booker, we messed up when we thought that killing Comstock at Wounded Knee would kill every Comstock. You come back Booker. You get baptized again. Preacher Witting wasn't just there for one day, he stays for quite a while. He continued to baptize people long after you were drowned. Sure, you walked away from the initial baptism, but what's stopping another Booker from coming back? It never ends Booker. You and Elizabeth can't kill all of the Comstocks."

"Well, then get me to Elizabeth, you bastards. I already saved her once and we could have lived our lives. We could have gone to Paris. I could have bought her a puppy!"

"We'd be more than glad to help you Booker," said Robert, "but we would have to start over."

"Wait, start over? You mean, all the way over? I have to go back to Columbia and save her again?!"

"Precisely. Booker, something about _you_ is different from all the other Bookers. You were the first to succeed, and after that others followed. But for you to save Elizabeth again, you need to go at it like you did last time."

"Bring us the girl, and wipe away the debt." Booker whispered.

"Exactly. Now, are you ready Booker?" Robert asked.

"Let's get this over with." Booker punctuated.

"Oh this will be loads fun, don't you think brother? Now we'll be able to watch this Booker even closer now that we know he'll succeed."

With that they opened up a tear and gestured Booker to come through. And like last time, Booker passed out upon crossing.

Booker woke up and heard the two talking amongst themselves again, just like the first time through. _Wait a minute, first time through? I remember!_ Booker thought.

"Are you going to just sit there?" Robert asked

"As compared to what? Standing?" Replied Rosalind.

"Not standing. Rowing."

"Rowing? I hadn't planned on it."

"So you expect me to shoulder the burden?"

"No. But I do expect you to do all the rowing."

"And why is that?"

"Coming here was your idea."

"My idea?"

"I've made it very clear that I don't believe in the exercise."

"The rowing?"

"No. I imagine that's wonderful exercise."

"Then what?"

"The entire thought experiment."

"Hey guys, can you cut the act?" Booker asked.

"One goes into an experiment knowing one could fail." Robert continued.

"But one does not undertake an experiment knowing one HAS failed." Rosalind replied.

"Can we get back to rowing?"

"I suggest you do or we're never going to get there."

"No, I mean I'd really appreciate it if you would assist."

"Perhaps you should ask him? I imagine he has greater interest in getting there than I do."

"I supposed he does. But there's no point in asking."

"Why not?"

"Because he doesn't row."

"He doesn't ROW?"

"No. He DOESN'T row."

"Ah, I see what you mean. We've arrived."

Booker then climbed the ladder like he did his first time around. "Hey, you two do know that I know Elizabeth, right?"

"We suppose you do, we did just give you a picture with information about her." Rosalind replied.

"That's not what I mean, I meant that I rememb -" The lighting cut Booker short before the Luteces could hear him. _Whatever,_ thought Booker, _At least I have an advantage now_.

Booker scaled the lighthouse for the second time and got up to the top. He looked at the three bells and hit each bell 1-2-2 respectively. To his surprise, it didn't work. He looked at the box the Luteces had given and read the card. _Weird, it's 1-2-3 now_ Booker thought as he hit the bells.

The ominous red lights came, as well as the heralding sounds coming from Columbia. Once the door opened Booker to his seat on the chair, this time giving a firm grasp to his gun as the pod prepared to launch.

"Launching in five. Four. Three. Two. One." said the announcer.

"Ascending. Ascending. Five thousand feet. Ten thousand feet. Fifteen thousand feet. Hallelujah." Booker looked out of the window, and got the same chills he did the first time he got there. It really was beautiful, until the poster of Comstock crossed across the window.

"Okay, I've got to play this cool. I can't be seen like last time." Booker said. When the pod released him, Booker started to make his way to the descending stairway. There he saw the man dressed in white robes again. He decided to stay silent this time, and played the awe-struck visitor.

Booker got down to the long pool and heard Preacher Witting giving his speech. Booker pushed through the crowd and Witting addressed him. "Is it someone new? Someone coming from the Sodom below?" Witting asked.

"Yes" replied Booker.

"Then welcome my brother! Are you ready to be baptized through the sweet waters of forgiveness?"

"I am."

"Then I baptize you, in the name of the Prophet, in the name of the Lamb, in the name of our Lord!"

Booker was ready to be almost drowned, but to his surprise, Witting pulled him out before he ran out of air. "Welcome brother! And may you enjoy Columbia as your new and saving home!"

Booker walked out of the tunnel behind Witting and came back to the familiar sight of the three founding fathers. _Okay, just get to Elizabeth, but don't get seen like last time_ Booker thought. He made his way past the garden and opened the door to the balcony. The building was making its way to the intersection with the other buildings. Once parked, Booker walked to the statue.

Booker looked to his right and saw a sign that said "Hudson's Clothing and Accessories." _Better cover up my hands so they don't see my mark this time_ Booker figured. He went in and asked for some gloves. The owner said "11 silver eagles." _Oh crap, I don't have any money yet. I fucking knew I should have looked through that trash can_ Booker thought.

Booker replied to the owner "I'm kind of new around here, so I don't have any money yet." The owner smiled and said "It's alright then. Father Comstock teaches us to be nice, and since you're new I'll give you those gloves as a welcoming gift."

"Thank you," said Booker as he put on the gloves. He made his way through the streets and got to the drawbridge. He listened in disgust to Comstock's propaganda. _We may share DNA, but we are not the same person_ Booker thought. He made his way to the carnival and realized that there was no boy that gave him a telegram. _Are the Luteces late? Or do they know that I remember_ Booker contemplated.

Booker got to the fair and skipped all of the festivities. _I've got to get to Elizabe - Anna, as soon as I can. I can't waste a single moment,_ Booker thought. He went over to the Possession Booth and drank one of the bottles. Then he proceeded to take control of the machine and step through the gate. Accordingly, the Luteces were there.

"Heads..." Robert started.

"or Tails?" Rosalind finished.

"Tails," Booker replied, and it landed on tails.

"That's weird," said Rosalind, "I thought this was a constant."

"Look guys, you couldn't hear me back at the lighthouse, but I was trying to tell you that I remember. Everything." Booker explained.

"Well this changes things," Robert said.

"Not really," Rosalind answered.

"And how does it not? We've never gotten tails before, nor have we had a Booker who knows what's to happen."

"Because it's all still the same. Whether he knows what's to happen or not, the ending will still be the same."

"Rosalind, we're not talking about different cards here, we're talking about a whole new deck."

"Oh Robert, just listen to me for once."

"You just can't accept that you're wrong."

"Anyways Booker, we'll be on our way then. Expect us to drop by from time to time. Probably more often than last time."

They then proceeded to walk around a corner to disappear. Booker continued his way to the raffle, now no longer worrying about people seeing his scar. When he got there, a lady in the front called out "Hey mister!" in his direction and gesturing for him to pull out a baseball. Booker looked at the baseballs and shuffled them around a bit.

He picked one up and turned it around. _Thirty-two,_ Booker thought, _At least I won't be picked this time._ Fink announced that the raffle is about to begin, and asked a young lady to bring the bowl of numbers across the stage. He pulled a number out and said into the microphone "Seventy-seven!"

No one claimed the number, and Fink looked disappointed. He put his hand in the bowl whilst saying "Let's have another go at it then folks!" He pulled out a ballot and started to say the number. "Thirty" he began, but holding it and implying there was more. _No way that's going to be two _Booker thought. "Two!" finished Fink.

"Oh, that's him, that's him!" called the raffle girl.

"Well I'll be..." said Booker.

* * *

**That's the end of the first chapter guys! Any and all criticism is appreciated (but please be nice, it's my first fanfic ever :D)**

**I'll try to get the next chapter up this week. I really enjoyed making this, almost as much as playing Infinite. So even if these turn out to be horrendous (I hope not), I'll still continue just to satisfy my Bioshock Infinite hunger!**


	2. A Realization

_Disclaimer: All of these characters are borrowed from the game Bioshock Infinite, and I do not own or have any rights to them. Oh, and there are major spoilers in this story. Don't read unless you've finished the game._

* * *

**Second Run - A Bioshock Infinite Fanfiction**

Chapter 2: A Realization

By ck-pasta

Booker looked at his hand and stared at the ball. _I'm only here for Elizabet - Anna. I have to throw this at the couple. I can't be made,_ Booker thought. "Looks like we got a shy one here folks!" Fink exclaimed. Booker shook his head back into reality and looked at the interracial couple. He drew his arm back and prepared to throw. "Here we go folks! The first throw!" Fink remarked.

Booker threw the ball and it hit the white man straight in the face. Once it made contact, baseballs nearly blocked out the sun as they were hurled at the couple. Booker stared at them. Bruises and welts forming all throughout their bodies. The man attempted to get in front of the woman to shield her from the baseballs, but it was to no avail.

Booker couldn't stand the sight anymore and walked away from the stage. He made his way up the stairs, his head down with a pang of guilt in his mouth. _This is where I killed all of those guards last time. Well, last time I tried to throw the ball at Fink and they saw my hand. I can't do this anymore. I've lived in regret for the past 20 years, I can't handle it. I can't be the man I used to be,_ Booker said to himself.

Booker looked up and saw Monument Island gleaming in front of him. The island was connected to the current platform, so he made his way over to it. As soon as he stepped on the platform, he heard a distinctive couple bickering behind him.

"I told you this was different," Robert claimed.

"What are you on about? Booker was still picked to throw the ball," Rosalind replied.

"Yes, but last time, like all the others, Booker was stopped. This one wasn't. _New deck. New playing field._"

"Hush now, we came here to talk to Booker, not each other. We have the rest of eternity to do that."

"I suppose you're right," Robert turned away from Rosalind and faced Booker. "Booker, it has come to our attention that the variables in this universe are vastly different than others. We warn you, some things might not be to your pleasure."

"I could care less what the variables are. I just want to get Anna and get out of here." Booker pointed out.

"You might find it a bit more difficult to rescue Elizabeth this time around, Booker."

"Okay, two things. One, her name is not Elizabeth, it's Anna. Two, I don't care if I have to climb down to the pits of hell and back, I'm getting my daughter back. Besides, what's the worst Comstock could do? Put some guards around her?"

"We figured we would leave that to you," Robert said.

"Of course you did," Booker responded. He turned around, knowing the Luteces would just vanish anyways. He continued to make his way toward Monument Island and began to think. _Wait a minute, what if Comstock did put more guards on Anna? I don't have any vigors other than Possession, and I can't even posses humans yet. The only weapon I have is my pistol, and I don't even have a fucking Skyhook yet, _he thought.

He looked around to see if he could scavenge anything. Even just ammo would help at this point. He kept searching, but the crowd of people kept blocking his way. _Wait, crowd of people? Here? At Monument Island?_ Booker thought. He pushed his way through the crowd and got in the front.

"Get you tickets here folks! Only fifteen silver eagles! Come see the famous Monument Island!" said the salesman. _Why is Monument Island open? More importantly, where am I going to get fifteen silver eagles? _Booker contemplated. He looked around and saw a nice, fat wallet in the back pocket of a rather bulky man.

He moved behind him and quickly pulled it out. The man felt the tug, but was late to turn around. Booker had already dissolved into the crowd of people. He looked into the wallet and counted 154 silver eagles. _Nice,_ he thought.

Once again, Booker made his way up to the front, fifteen silver eagles already in his hand. "Hey pal, give me one ticket to the Island please," he asked. "Sure thing! Here's your ticket, just hop aboard the lift behind me and you're on your way!" explained the salesman.

Booker looked around the salesman and saw the lift. He made his way over to the lift, stepped in, and proceeded to punch the push button. _Why do I always punch buttons? Guess all those years working for the Pinkertons got me used to it. Intimidation I suppose, _he thought as the lift brought him up.

Once the lift stopped, Booker took a step out and recognized the area. The only difference was the amount of people walking around. Kids were playing in the garden, adults were talking near the fountain, overall it looked like a tourist attraction. _What the hell happened here?_ he questioned. He continued to make his way to inside of the statue. People crowded the room, and there was a guide walking around. He was teaching people the history of Columbia, and how Monument Island was to keep the Lamb safe.

Booker continued on within the building, eventually reaching the room in which the Siphon was placed on his first run through here. _Why isn't the Siphon here? How's Comstock controlling Elizabeth?_ he thought. He moved on to the narrow hallway right before the elevator to Anna's prison. He came close and was about to push the up button, when he heard a familiar voice.

"Love the Prophet, because he loves the sinner," said the voice.

"Anna?" Booker said as he backtracked to a side room that showed clips of Anna doing various things the first time he came here.

"Love the sinner, because he is you," continued the familiar voice. Booker stepped inside of the room and his face drained of all emotion.

In front of him was his Anna, except it wasn't. She was still dressed in the recognizable blue skirt and white shirt combo, but she was indeed different. In front of her was a small crowd of children, listening intently to what she offered to say.

"Without a sinner, what need is there for a redeemer? Without sin, what grace has forgiven? Lady Comstock teaches this to us, kids. Our Prophet is a kind man, and all he wants to see you all in the heaven above with him. That's why he created Columbia, so that we might be separated from the evil people from below."

To the children, Anna's face glowed with holiness. She was a symbol of near perfection. She was the Lamb, and she fully accepted it. To Booker, Anna's face glowed with Comstock. _No, no, no, no, no. Anna would never say these things. This isn't Anna, this is a brainwashed Elizabeth,_ He thought.

Elizabeth stood up and gestured the kids to follow her. "Ms. Elizabeth, how do you stay so perfect?" asked one of the children. Elizabeth gave a slight chuckle and smiled at the child. "Don't worry, as long as you follow what Father Comstock teaches, you'll be on your way to a righteous path in no time." She then made her way to door and looked at Booker for a brief second and then continued her way out of the room.

Booker followed Elizabeth for quite a time. She was mingling with the guests, talking to them about how Comstock was such a great man. Many of the Columbians questioned Elizabeth and asked her how she stayed so perfect. She usually gave a slight chuckle, and answered the same way she did to the child. Follow Comstock.

After following Elizabeth for a while, Booker decided to leave. _No use in spending my time here. She's obviously as much of a fanatic, if not more, as all the rest of these people,_ he thought. Booker took the lift off of Monument Island, and looked for a place to stay that night.

He found an inn not far from Monument Island and decided to stay there. He paid fifty silver eagles for three nights and then proceeded to make his way up to his room. He opened the door, and fell on top of his bed. He started to doze off, but was interrupted by the Luteces.

"You don't think he's given up, do you?" Rosalind said.

"Jesus! Don't you people know how to give a warning?!" Booker said as he jumped up from surprise.

"Oh I certainly hope not. There isn't much satisfaction when he just gives up," Robert pointed out.

"Okay, let me tell you guys something. That girl in there? That is not my daughter. Anna would never believe a single lie that Comstock would tell her," Booker remarked.

"But she is indeed your daughter. The same one that was taken away from you 20 years ago," Robert explained.

"No, that is definitely not my daughter. Can't you guys just take me back to the first universe you brought me to? That Elizabeth seems much easier to rescue."

"Unfortunately, that universe no longer exists. It collapsed when you were drowned." Rosalind said.

"Then take me back to when Comstock took Anna. I'll stop him this time."

Robert shook his head and said "That's not how it works Booker. The Lutece field cannot travel through time, merely universes. Some universes may be farther ahead in their timeline than others, but that's as close as to time travel we'll ever do. If we were to take you back to that moment, it would be in another universe. Another Booker's universe. You'd be no better than Comstock if you took that Elizabeth."

"Her name is Anna. And why put me here then? My Anna didn't get brainwashed by Comstock. She was healthy. Well, lacking a pinkie finger."

"Robert, he's never going to understand," Rosalind said.

"But I must try. It's our fault for him being here in the first place," Robert turned away from Rosalind and faced Booker. "This IS your daughter. She's different this time because you two changed the time in which your counterpart of Comstock was baptized. Booker, you have to save this one, else you're going home by yourself."

Booker sat back down on the bed and put his hands on his face. "Okay, so how do I go from her -" Booker looked up and saw that the Luteces were gone. "Come the fuck on!" Booker screamed. He laid down on his bed and closed his eyes. _How the hell am I going to convince her to come with me? "Oh hey, I'm actually your father and Comstock's been lying to you this whole time." This is stupid, _he thought. Booker drifted off to sleep considering how he was going to convince Anna.

* * *

**Hope you guys still enjoyed the second chapter. It was going to be longer, but then I realized that this would be a better stopping point. Chapter 3 will definitely be up before the week is done, so be expecting that!**

**And remember that any and all criticism is appreciated! I WILL look at them, and I do try to make sure to clean up my errors. (This is to you Excelion and Anon, thanks for the suggestions!)**


	3. Getting Her Back

_Disclaimer: All of these characters are borrowed from the game Bioshock Infinite, and I do not own or have any rights to them. Oh, and there are major spoilers in this story. Don't read unless you've finished the game._

* * *

**Second Run - A Bioshock Infinite Fanfiction**

Chapter 3: Getting Her Back

By ck-pasta

Light shined from the window on Booker's face as he woke up. His stomach growled and he stood up and made his way downstairs. There was a bar there, and Booker ordered a sandwich and a drink.

"That'll be ten silver eagles sir. And may I interest you in a vigor?" asked the salesman.

"You sell vigors here? What do you have?" Booker replied.

"I only have Bucking Bronco at the moment. Say, I'll give you a deal and sell it you for only fifty silver eagles."

"I'll take it," Booker said. He pulled out sixty silver eagles, and realized he only had twenty-nine left. _Jeez, I need to tone it down on buying. I don't have Anna with me anymore to throw me coins. _He ate his sandwich, and drained the vigor.

After the usual hallucination caused by vigors, Booker left the inn and looked around. Monument Island had left the dock and was moving towards the other side of Columbia. _Great how the hell am I supposed to get there now. _He looked around and saw a guard showing off his Sky-Hook to what seemed like a friend of his.

"Yeah, this is the newest technology. With this, we'll flush the Vox out of the skylines," the guard bragged while holding his Sky-Hook in the air. _I really need a Sky-Hook right now. I'll have to isolate that policeman, but I can't kill him. Guess I'll have to try to choke him out._

Booker ran up to the guard and tried to sound as tired as possible. "Hey man, you gotta help me" he said, making sure to take breath pauses in between a few words. "My friend is getting mugged by three guys in that alley over there. I think they might be Vox Populi."

He looked alarmed and dashed towards the alley while Booker followed closely behind. The guard looked around the alley and found no one there. He was about to turn around, but not before Booker put his arms around his neck to choke him. Once the he stopped struggling, Booker let go of him. He picked up the guard's Sky-Hook, as well as scavenging for any ammo. He found a few pistol rounds, but the prize here was the shotgun.

"Oh yes, this'll do," Booker said as he rubbed the shotgun with his sleeve. He made sure to not leave the same direction he came, and was quick about it. He didn't want to alarm anyone.

_Oh shit, I have no clue where I'm going. What part of Columbia am I in? _He looked around but found and only saw a sign that said 'Residential Complexes.' Then he looked up and saw a hinge that should have been within the Sky-Hook's reach. Booker jumped up as high as he could, and the magnetized hook did the rest.

Once attached to the hinge, Booker looked around for a place to land. He jumped over to the nearest rooftop and look around. Monument Island was quite a ways ahead. Booker groaned at the long trek he would have to accomplish.

He continued up on the rooftops, jumping over alleys and using the Sky-Hook. Booker was about to make another jump, when he noticed someone else on the rooftops. He would have disregarded it, if it were not for the sniper rifle in his hand. _Is that Vox?_ Booker got closer to get a better look, but the man heard him coming.

The man turned around and an alarmed look took over his face. "Oh shit! He has a new Sky-Hook, he's a cop!"

Booker saw three other people stand up on the rooftops of buildings a decent ways ahead.

"No wait, I'm not a cop I'm jus -" Just then a bullet sped by his shoulder. _Shit, these guys won't listen to reason._ He took cover by a chimney that was sticking out and pulled out his shotgun. He tried to move, but three bullets flew near him when he left cover. He was stuck.

He looked around to see what he could do, and he saw an alleyway in front of him. It looked big enough for him to jump down into, but also small enough for him to slow himself down. "Well, you only live once." He jump into the opening, and put his hands and feet on the walls. He landed on the ground, slightly hurting his legs. _Glad I got these gloves earlier, my hands would be torn up right now._

He walked out of the alleyway and saw four Vox huddled around a doorway. A smug looking man, who appeared to be the leader of this little hodge-podge, walked out of the door. "We better hurry up, someone's getting shot at. Hey, you almost done planting those explosives?"

_Explosives? What the hell would they be using that for?_ Surprisingly, the leader answered Booker's question. "This'll teach that smart-aleck guard to resist us. If he doesn't answer our questions after we capture him tonight, his family is blown to bits."

Disgust filled Booker. Anna was important, but he wasn't just going to stand by while a man's family is threatened. Booker stepped out of the alley, pistol in hand, walking in smooth, even strides towards the group.

The leader picked up on Booker, and pointed him out to the rest of the group. "Who the hell is this guy? Someone was supposed to make sure no one came here!" The other Vox looked at each other, shrugging their shoulders in an attempt to show they didn't know.

Looking even angrier, the leader started to shout at his group. "Well, are you just going to stand there?! Fucking get rid of him!" The thugs started to pull out their guns, but before they could Booker firmly gripped his hand and let out an earth-shattering force from it. The goons were in the air, helpless, and Booker put a bullet in each of their heads.

"What the hell, you can't even get decent help these days." The leader started to also pull out his gun, and Booker was going to use another Bucking Bronco wave, but he realized he was out of salt. _Are you fucking kidding me? Right now? Of all times?_

"Aww, out of magic tricks? Here, I got a little magic for ya." The brute pulled out a machine gun and unloaded in Booker's direction. He took cover in the nearest crevice he could find, and pulled out his shotgun. Once the man needed to reload Booker came out and place a nice lump of lead in his legs. The man fell face first on the ground and groaned from the pain.

Booker walked up the powerless thug, "Now tell me, why were you planting explosives in this man's home?"

"I'm not telling you shit," the man said as he spit in Booker's face.

"Then I don't really need you to be alive anymore, do I?" Booker gave him a couple of seconds to say something, but this he wouldn't talk. Booker shot him in the head.

Another person came down the stairs, breathe heavy and exhausted. "The dynamite's done boss. What do we do no -" Fear filled his eyes. He tried to hold on to the bar on the stairs, but his legs gave out under him.

Booker walked up to him, making sure to keep a straight posture and stared him in the eye for added intimidation, "Well, your boss wasn't much talking, you going to be the same?"

The thug put his hands over his face and was whimpering, "Please, please, please, don't kill me. I had no choice, I had to join the Vox. I was alone, a-and poor, and I had nothing to eat. P-please let me go."

"If you talk more than your boss, you'll be breathing for a lot longer than he is. Now, show me where that bomb is and tell me how to diffuse it."

"O-okay, I can diffuse it for you if y-you want. I-it's pretty complicated." Booker followed him up the stairs and into the attic and saw a complicated array of wires and plugs. "What the hell is all this? It definitely seems confusing for an average Vox." The teenager stayed silent and was still shaking from apparent fear.

"Look kid, I'm not going to kill you. You seem like the decent enough type, and if you wanted to kill me you would've tried when I had my back turned. You can calm down."

The teen let out a sigh of relief, and color came back into his face. He seemed more willing to talk, so Booker question him, "Now, tell me how all these wires work."

"It's a system of dynamite sticks. I've connected them to the announcing system. We may not have wireless detonators yet, but I set it up to explode when it receives a certain tone from the announcer." A glow of pride was on his face.

"That's pretty smart," Booker said as he look around the attic some more. The teenager signaled to Booker that he was done, and they made their way back downstairs.

"So, does this mean I can go now?"

Booker put his right hand over his mouth and thought for a second. "You know your way around the city, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, I need to get to Monument Island, any clue how to get there?"

"It usually docks in different places, and you'd never make it there. By foot anyways."

Booker pulled out his Sky-Hook and let it spin for a bit. A grin was showing from the corner of his mouth, "How about by rail then?"

The teen looked with awe at the Sky-Hook. After basking at it for a little bit, he looked up at the ceiling, as if he was calculating a map within his head. Once he seemed to figure out a route, an 'aha!' look came over his face. "Well, there's one that's pretty close and will take us to the market district. Monument Island is within walking distance from there."

Booker tilted his head forward and had a slight smile. He lifted up one eyebrow and asked, "Us?"

"Well, I figured you wouldn't know where to go from there, seeing as you don't even know the flight path of Monument Island. That's like, a religious rule for people around here. 'Everyone must know where the lamb is, so when a time of peril comes, we may protect her, blahblahblahblah' and all of that other Comstock talk."

"Well, you're not wrong there. I'm kind of new to Columbia, only reason I'm here is becau -" Booker cut himself off before he said too much. _Jesus, I just met this kid, and here I am telling him why I'm here. Why am I so open? Loneliness getting to me?_

The teen had a puzzled look on his face, "Because what?"

"Nevermind, just lead the way." The kid gestured Booker to follow him out of the back door.

"Snipers probably have the front door scoped. We had four of them watching from the rooftops, just in case someone like you showed up. Goes to show how much they suck at their job."

"By the way kid, what was your name?"

"James Mahoney, why?"

"Just want a name to your face."

"Well, what's your name?"

"You can call me Booker."

They walked out of the back door and traveled a few blocks down. They got to the edge of the platform and there was a railing there. James pulled out his Sky-Hook, but it looked old and barely functional.

"Jesus, how is that thing going to hold you up?" Booker asked.

"I honestly have no clue. I'm always scared that it will break while I'm using the rails, but it hasn't so far. Chance, I guess."

They both jumped on the railing and started to gain speed quickly. They were on it for a while, then Booker saw James jump off to another platform. Booker followed him down and landed next to him.

"Okay Booker, so you see that vigor vendor all the way on the other side of this market?" Booker squinted his eyes and navigated the area. Once he found the vendor, he gave James a nod of approval. "Okay, so you just gotta get over to there, and make a left on the first intersection after that. You'll have a nice view of Monument Island from there, and you should be able to figure out the rest."

"Well James, been a pleasure. I'll be going then."

"Sure thing Booker. Hey, maybe we'll meet up again sometime. You know, for a guy who looks like he kills for a living, you seem pretty nice."

James jumped on the skyrail again and disappeared. _He hit the "kills for a living" pretty hard right there. Oh well, just have to get to Anna now._ Booker did just as James told him to, and soon enough he was in front of Monument Island.

Booker was about to approach the ticket salesman again, but there was a giant "CLOSED" sign in front of the booth. Underneath the words, it said:

_Monument Island closed for the day. We are currently preparing the island in celebration of Elizabeth Comstock's 21st birthday. Only guests with a reserved ticket, and those who pay 500 silver eagles for a ticket tomorrow, are permitted in. We apologize for any inconvenience._

He threw his arms up in frustration. _Are you fucking kidding me?_

"He seems to be irritated."

Booker spun around, surprised. "What the hell?!"

"Yes, he does seem quite agitated." Rosalind said, staring at Booker.

"What did I tell you guys about doing that? At least give me a warning."

Robert positioned his hands behind his back, interlocking them, "Now where would be the fun in that?"

Booker nodded his head side-to-side to show disapproval.

Rosalind dusted off his shoulder. "We heard you might be attending a party."

"Attending? Hardly. Don't have enough silver eagles. Unless you two have 500 silver eagles on you, then I'm not going."

Robert and Rosalind looked at each other before turning back to Booker. "We may not have 500 silver eagles," Robert said.

Rosalind continued, "But we do have some advice. First off, you definitely need to change out of those rags. Dress code for the party is strictly tuxedos and dresses. Second off, we figured you might be interested in a little bank heist going down near the market. Seems the Vox need more money to fund themselves."

"And why are you helping me more now than you did before?"

Robert scrunched his nose and had a slight smile over his face, "Let's just say, we've picked a favorite."

Booker gave them a nod of approval before walking away from Monument Island and heading off towards the market district.

_500 silver eagles and a change of clothes. Should be easy enough._

* * *

**So chapter three went by faster than I thought. Guess we'll be having chapter four before this week is done too.**

**Once again, I have to thank Excelion. Took your advice on dialogue, and tried to make it be a little more fluid. Don't know how well I did, but hey, least I tried.**

**Lastly, and like the last chapters, any and all criticism is appreciated! Something wrong with my writing style? Don't be afraid to tell me! I'm writing this fanfic for two reasons. One, I really enjoyed Bioshock Infinite. And two, I want to exercise my creative writing. So please, tell me if anything is wrong!**


	4. The Party

_Disclaimer: All of these characters are borrowed from the game Bioshock Infinite, and I do not own or have any rights to them. Oh, and there are major spoilers in this story. Don't read unless you've finished the game._

* * *

**Second Run - A Bioshock Infinite Fanfiction**

Chapter 4: The Party

By ck-pasta

Booker headed back towards the market district and looked around. He saw a couple of signs pointing the way to a nearby bank and followed them until he came to it. _The Bank of the Lamb. Must be a branch off The Bank of the Prophet._ He looked around the street and noticed three men in top hats and large bags in their hands. He figured they'd be the ones who would be doing the heist, but they were just standing there. No course of action showed.

Booker circled around the men, making sure he had a nice view of the bank whilst also being able to keep an eye on the gentlemen. He waited for around thirty minutes, then an explosion set off within the bank. People poured out of the building, and soon enough a few men dressed in red ran out guns blazing. The polices showed up and the Vox led them away, meanwhile the three gentlemen nonchalantly made their way inside the bank.

Booker followed them closely, but made sure to keep his distance as to not give himself away. When the men entered that building, he waited a few moments before stepping inside himself. He heard them conversing and laughing amongst each other while they were in the vault packing their bags with bars of silver and gold.

He walked into the vault openly, and the three men pulled out their pistols. Booker put his hands up in the air. "Hello there gentlemen. I'm not here to fight, I merely saw an opportunity and chose to take it. I don't believe that those bags could hold all the money in this vault, now can they?" The three men look at each other and lowered their weapons. One pointed to the clock and rushed to get more gold into the bags. Booker stepped to the sides of the vault and started to fill his wallet with money.

His hands were buried in silver eagles as he shoveled them into his wallet. Once that was full, he grabbed some gold bars and put them in his pockets. By the time Booker was done, the three men had already left the vault and he could hear the police coming back. He hurried to get outside the vault and get to the entrance.

Once at the main doorway, Booker saw the three men poking their heads out of the doors and windows in an attempt to get a view of where the cops were. They looked at Booker and gestured him to come close. "You got any vigors on you? We don't think we'll be able to get out without another user's help."

Booker crouched down beside him and responded, "All I have is Bucking Bronco and Possession, but I don't have any salts on me though." One of the other men grabbed into their bag and started to shuffle items in it around. He pulled out a large vial of Salt and threw it at Booker's direction. Booker drank the entire thing and he could feel his energy coming back.

All three men nodded and made a rush out of the door. One of them was using Undertow and washing away some of the guards, while the another was using Shock Jockey to paralyze them. The third was using Murder of Crows to attack the cops. _Didn't think anyone else here in Columbia had it in them to use vigors._

Booker stepped out and used Bucking Bronco towards large groups of cops. The other three men were holding them off, but Bucking Bronco cleared a path for them to escape through. All four of them ran underneath the floating cops whilst trying to hold off the rest. Once they passed the large group, they all sprinted towards the market district.

The three men made their way to the same railway used by Booker and James earlier, and hopped on using Sky-Hooks similar to Booker. He jumped onto the rail, but went the opposite direction going back to the inn he had stayed at earlier. He turned around and saw cops hopping onto the rails, but they were going in the other direction.

_Good thing those men lead them away. I don't think I have the heart in me to kill any more cops, I did plenty of that last time. _Booker rode the skyrail until he returned to the Residential Complexes. From there he walked back to his inn. _Okay, I should probably get to Hudson's first and buy myself a Tuxedo. Better hurry, getting kinda dark._

He walked pass the stage where the raffle was held and then through the park. Booker had remembered first walking down these streets, but then again, who wouldn't? Once he made it back to the giant statue he saw Hudson's clothing store once more.

The store owner gave a welcoming smile as Booker walked in. "Hello again my friend! Are those gloves treating you well?"

"Yeah, you could say that. You got any tuxedos for sale?"

"Lucky for you I have one left! Many people were buying it in celebration of Ms. Comstock's 21st birthday. That where you headed tomorrow?"

"Sure is, how much do you think the tuxedo will cost?"

"Unfortunately, it'd have to be 1,500 silver eagles."

"Don't worry, I got the money this time." Booker gave a smile to the store owner while pulling out two bars of gold. "How much does this cover?" The store owner's eyes widened at the sight of the gold. "I would ask where you may have acquired such large amounts of money, but I'd rather not pry. I'll only need one of those bars."

Booker grabbed one of the bars and put it back in his pocket while following the owner towards the back. The owner pulled out a coat hanger with a nicely pressed tuxedo on it. Booker walked close and took the hanger into his hand. He patted down the tuxedo and walked out to the front of the store.

Booker gestured the owner a thank you and walked out of the store, tuxedo on his shoulders. It was getting dark really fast, so he had sped up his pace a bit. By the time he arrived back to his inn, the sun had set and the moon started to make its way up.

He walked to his room and hung up his tuxedo on the railings of the window. He sat facing the window for some time, just watching the city move around at night. _It really is beautiful. I can see why the people love it here. Beautiful sunny days, no bad weather, and an amazing panoramic view of the skyline at night._

The next morning he went to the bathroom and washed himself up. _Don't wanna smell like blood and sweat for my little girl's 21st birthday, now do I?_

Once he was done freshening himself up, he took the tuxedo and started putting it on. He'd only worn tuxedos a few times in life, but a man never forgets how to tie a tie. He looked in the mirror to make sure everything was alright, but the tail at the back of the jacket was bothering him. _Who designed tuxedos? Honestly, this tail just does no justice to anyone._

"Doesn't he look dashing."

Booker continued to look in the mirror and fixing himself up. He knew who it was, the woman's voice was something you can easily remember after a few conversations.

Robert nodded at Rosalind and looked back at Booker, "Most certainly, though I must ask, why on earth did you pick black?"

Booker fixed up his tie and turned around to face the Luteces, "It was the last one they had in stock. Didn't really have an option."

Robert grabbed the insides of his jacket and pulled them down to straighten them up, "How depressing, we prefer a light brown, maybe even tan, to be honest."

"And I prefer to wear normal clothing, not something that makes me look like a penguin," Booker said as he pointed at the back flap of his suit.

Rosalind approached Booker and pushed his face up from his chin, "Chin up, not every man gets to see his daughter turn twenty-one. Most of them are off fighting in war."

Robert raised an eyebrow and looked at Rosalind. "Are you referring to World War I? America doesn't join for a few more years in this universe."

"Are you certain? The one we just came from was already participating in it."

"Yes, but Germany also wins in that universe."

"Ah, I see what you mean."

Booker stepped over to his old clothing and pulled out all the money he had been able to take. _Seven gold bars and 843 silver eagles, not a bad haul._

Robert gestured Rosalind towards Booker's money. "We see you've taken our advice. That should be an ample enough of money to buy whatever weapons or vigors that you should desire."

"And before we take our leave, one other piece of advice for you. Try not to tell Elizabeth your name. She knows it as the False Shepherd, and will not hesitate to bring you to Comstock."

Booker was putting some money in his pockets and organizing it so that he could bring as much money as he could. "Thanks for the tip. And one question, do you two have any way of knowing how I can convince her that Comstock is the bad one here, and not me?"

Robert and Rosalind looked at each other before responding, "We would gladly help you..."

"But we figured you'd know more about it than us. To be honest, children are more much of an obscurity to us. We'd never had any children."

Booker sighed and turned around. "Alright, I guess I'll have to think of somethi -" But the Luteces were already gone. _You'd think they'd give you a notice when they're coming and going at least._

He stepped out of the inn and made sure to see if Monument Island had moved or not. To his luck, it didn't. He made his way back to the Residential Complexes and took the skyrail back to the market. He went slow to ensure to avoid any damage to his current appearance.

He landed back on the market district and made his way to Monument Island. Booker walked to the ticket salesman and dug through his slacks and pulled out his wallet. He carefully counted 500 silver eagles and laid them in front of the salesman. He was given a ticket with a seat number and was told to ride the lift.

Booker made a final attempt to make sure that his clothes were appropriate, and once the lift stopped, he stepped out. A healthy amount of people had attended the party. Many women were wearing strapless dresses, each having their own flair of vibrant colors. The men wore the same black tuxedo that Booker had bought, and it made him feel just a bit less tense.

There was one odd couple out though, they were wearing the recognizable brown jackets, but Booker decided not to approach them. He wanted to find Anna first. He strode across the garden and into the building. There were round tables everywhere, and the room was decorated in white and blue. Each table was dressed in white skirts with a blue trim around the edge.

_Guess I know what Anna's favorite colors are_. Booker looked around and surveyed the room for Anna. After a while, an announcing system boomed within the room.

"Welcome guests. I thank you for attending this very special party. As all of you know, it's my daughter's 21st birthday! I now urge you to please take your seats that is marked on your ticket."

Booker was annoyed at the sound of Comstock's voice. His daughter? Hardly. He found his seat, and it was set right next to an opening near the band. He presumed this was an area to dance.

"I know present to you the gem of the evening! Elizabeth Comstock!" A spotlight shined on an opening covered by a black curtain. After a few seconds, Anna stepped out between them. She had worn the same dress she had found in the First Lady Airship, except this time her hair wasn't cut, and she wasn't bruised or damaged in any way. She was gorgeous.

People were clapping and men were whistling at her direction. _Did she really have to wear THAT dress? It's way too revealing on her chest and it's too tight on her backside._ Booker looked around and saw how the other men looked at his daughter. He was disgusted.

The party resumed as normal. Many people mingled while having their drinks and the band played songs that Booker hadn't ever heard of. He got a drink and sat back down at his seat by himself. _How am I going to approach her? What am I going to say to her? Seriously, I've killed hundreds of men, traveled across America, and spent over two days with Anna saving her, yet I don't even know how to talk to her. She's my daughter for Christ's sake._

Just then Booker felt a slight tap on his shoulder. He turned around and looked up to see Anna's warm smile looking at him. "I haven't seen you much around here. Well, other than two days ago when you came here."

_That many faces seen in one day, and yet she still remembers mine. Definitely a bright girl._

"Ummm, well, yes." Booker stammered for a bit. Anna chuckled whilst putting her hand over her mouth. Booker continued, "Elizabeth Comstock, correct?" _What the hell are you doing Booker? Her name just got announced to everyone, and here you are asking if it's her name._

Anna smiled again and replied, "Yes it is, and what might your name be?"

_I haven't thought of a name yet?! The Luteces already warned me, yet I still haven't thought of a name?! _Booker entered a slight panic state. His eyes darted for an inspiration for a name. He saw a wine named 'Kylar's Tonic' and looked at the table's wood. "Kylar..Uhhh...Birch."

_Kylar Birch? What type of name is that?_

"Well Mr. Birch, may I ask what brings you here to my party tonight?"

"Well, I figured it might be a perfect place to -" But Booker was cut off by music and both of them turned towards the band. They started playing a song with a much faster tempo than before, and many people started going into the dance floor and dancing with each other.

Anna's faced glowed as her smile became bigger. She started clapping to the tempo before reaching out both hands to Booker. "Isn't this wonderful?! Oh come dance with me Mr. Birch!"

Booker rubbed his arm and looked back up at Anna. "Well, no thanks. I don't really dance."

Anna put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow. "Why not? It's a special day Mr. Birch, I'm sure you could spare a dance with me."

Booker looked up at her face once more, and her smile drew him in. He put his hand on hers, and she led him to the dance floor.

* * *

**I definitely had a lot of fun writing the party scene. I myself can't wait to get started on chapter five. I think that a lot of people expected a totally brainwashed Elizabeth (like, new personality and everything). I wanted her to keep her personality, but there are changes. I don't think I'd be able to live with myself if I didn't make Elizabeth innocent and happy. **

**I'd like to thank everyone who wrote a review. I'm trying to clean up my dialogue, but I haven't really written many stories set in this time period (actually, I've written none). I'm going to read some poems and books written at this time to get a better idea for dialogue.**

**As per usual, any and all criticism is appreciated!**


	5. Will You Dance With Me?

_Disclaimer: All of these characters are borrowed from the game Bioshock Infinite, and I do not own or have any rights to them. Oh, and there are major spoilers in this story. Don't read unless you've finished the game._

* * *

**Second Run - A Bioshock Infinite Fanfiction**

Chapter 5: Will You Dance With me?

By ck-pasta

Anna hurried to the dance floor, Booker in hand. She turned around and put one of his hands on her waist, the other in her hand. It was a bit uncomfortable for Booker, seeing as she was missing a pinkie, but he got used to it. They started a waltz that matched the tempo of the music. They smiled and laughed as they would bump into other people and occasionally step on each other's feet. Booker didn't care, or notice at all, that some people were beginning to stare. To the people, it was odd, here was Elizabeth Comstock, heir of the Prophet, dancing with a man no one in the city knew.

The music began to slow down and Anna put her hands around Bookers neck. He was surprised, but eventually fell back into the beat. He put his hands on her waist as they slow danced, and Anna rested her head on his shoulder. It was a nice picture, a father giving his daughter a slow dance on her twenty-first birthday, only problem was that people thought he was a stranger, and so did she.

Booker felt another tap on his shoulder, and saw a man that seemed a little over twenty five asking to have a turn to dance with Anna. He was reluctant, but he knew he had to do it to not give himself away to anybody. Anna look at Booker as he walked back to his table, a tinge of sadness started to project from her face.

She continued to dance with other men as time went on, and Booker sat and watched. Many of the men looked just older than twenty, and many of them got a little too touchy for Booker's liking. He preferred it when fast songs were playing, so the men didn't have to always linger their hands at Anna's waist. But slow dances did come, and Booker cringed at the sight of a man's hands slowly lowering itself farther and farther.

Then came a younger gentleman who wanted a turn with Anna. He looked around nineteen, but his height would argue otherwise. A slow song come on, and he put his body right next to Anna. His hands were farther down Anna's waist than any of the other guys dared, and she was starting to get uncomfortable. They made a pass next to Booker, and Anna's eyes screamed for help towards him.

"You mind raising your hands a bit? She looks a bit tense," Booker requested to the man. The gentleman continued on as if he hadn't heard Booker, and even moved his hands lower. Anna started to push away from the guy, but he kept pulling her back in.

Booker was annoyed enough with all the other men, but this one just broke the camel's back. He stood up and walked over to the man and put his hand on the man's shoulder. Booker had expected the man to just stop dancing, but that idea was pushed aside when a fist slammed on his face. Booker almost fell on the floor, but his hands had stopped the fall.

By the time Booker realized what happened, a circle had already formed around the two of them. The man towered over Booker, hands clenched. "You got a problem?"

"Now that you mention it -" Booker quickly brought his fist into the man's face and made contact with a nicely placed right hook.

He walked over next to the man as he was laying on the floor, "Yes, I do."

Cops were attempting to get to the action, but the crowd was slowing them down. By the time they got there, Booker has already landed his punch, and the man laid on the floor. The cops had pulled Booker aside and handcuffed him.

Booker didn't resist, there would be too much collateral damage with innocent people, not to mention losing his chances at convincing Anna. They took him to a room that branched off of the party. It was small, but it was nicely lit and had a comfortable chair. He sat there for a few minutes, hands cuffed behind his back, before a man with a nicely trimmed white beard came in. _Comstock. _He looked at Booker for a bit before speaking. "Explain to me why you thought it would be alright for you to disrupt my daughter's birthday."

_He doesn't recognize me. Either I look older than I thought, or that guy must have put a bruise the covers my face._

Comstock slammed his hand on a table next to him, "Are you listening to me?!"

"Your daughter's birthday?"

"Yes, my daughter's birthday. Are you new around here, or are you just thick headed?"

"No, what I meant to was, YOUR daughter's birthday?"

Comstock was a bit taken back at the question. He put his hands on the armrests of the chair and whispered close to Booker. "What are you implying?"

"I'm implying that she's not - " Anna crashed through the door and almost fell.

Two cops rushed behind her and stammered towards Comstock. "W-we're sorry sir, we tried to keep her out, but she got around us and -"

Comstock motioned his hand, "Just get out and leave the three of us."

They closed the door and Anna got up and crossed her arms while staring at Comstock. She turned towards Booker and let out a gasp while putting her hand over her mouth. She dug through her pocket and pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket and knelt in front of Booker and started to pat down his face. "Oh my God Mr. Birch, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, " Booker said as he was trying to gesture Anna to stop.

"Elizabeth, step away from him right now." Comstock tried to pull her shoulder away, but Anna pulled back and continued to tend to Booker's bruises.

"He's done nothing wrong, father. He was just trying to help." Anna stopped wiping Booker's faced and smiled at him.

"He's disrupted your party, not to mention he severely injured a man."

"Well that man deserved it. He was putting his hands in places they shouldn't be. Mr. Birch was only trying to stop him."

"Is this true, Mr. Birch?"

All Booker wanted to do at this point was leave. He wasn't going to get anywhere with Anna as long as Comstock was here. "Yeah."

"Well then, I have to extend my apologies to you. I'm usually a well-mannered man, but when things come to MY Elizabeth," Comstock stroked Anna's hair and turned back to Booker, "I tend to get a bit defensive."

"Now that all that's been settle, can you take these cuffs off me?"

Comstock gave Anna the keys as Booker stood up and she uncuffed him. Comstock started to leave the room, but turned around again, "One last thing Mr. Birch, I suggest getting that bruise looked at. I'd say that if you ran into someone you knew, they wouldn't be able to recognize you."

He stepped out of the room and Anna looked back at Booker. "Look Mr. Birch, I'm sorry about this whole thi - " Booker waved his hand at Anna to stop her.

"You don't have to worry about it. I've been in my fair share of scrapes."

'Yes, but my father. I've never seen him not want to help another person before. He's one of the 'holiest,' if you allow me to use that, people I know."

"Well sometimes, when a person is cleansed, the sinner doesn't go away."

Anna looked down at the ground, seeming a bit hurt.

Booker put his hand on her shoulder, "Look, Elizabeth, that's not what I meant."

"It's alright Mr. Birch. I just want to get this whole mess behind me."

"Yeah, me too..."

"Well, you said you were new here, right?"

"Well, yes, why do you ask?"

"How about I take you on a tour of Columbia? Come on, it'll be fun!" Anna smiled at Booker.

"Erm, well, sure. I guess" _Okay, this is good. I can get Anna alone without interference of Comstock._

"Okay! Well, we can go tomorrow if you'd like. I would presume you'd want to take care of this," Anna circled her face with a finger, "first."

Booker rubbed the left side of his face, "Yeah, you're right there. So is Monument Island still going to be here tomorrow or...?"

"Actually, it's going to be back near the fairgrounds. The same place when you first visited."

"It's a deal then. So, would you mind showing me how to get out of here? Without anyone seeing me?"

"Well, my father already had everyone leave, so you don't have to worry about that."

She led Booker out back towards the main room and they walked together to the lift.

"Mr. Birch, you never told me why you came to my party."

"Oh, well - ummm, I had heard about some Lamb, and figured that since everyone was talking about it, I'd come see for myself."

Anna let out a giggle as Booker climbed aboard the lift. "Well, I hope you weren't disappointed."

* * *

**Well, done with chapter five. Hope you guys still enjoyed it. I'm STILL trying to get the dialogue correct, hopefully I did a bit better here.**

**And like the last four chapters, any and all criticism is appreciated!**


	6. Walk Me Through The Past

_Disclaimer: All of these characters are borrowed from the game Bioshock: Infinite, and I do not own or have any rights to them. Oh, and there are major spoilers in this story. Don't read unless you've finished the game._

* * *

**Second Run - A Bioshock Infinite Fanfiction**

Chapter 6: Walk Me Through The Past

By ck-pasta

Sounds of birds filled Booker's room as we started to wake up. After the events of the previous night, Booker was fatigued, but this was his chance with Anna and exhaustion wasn't going to keep him away.

He went to the bathroom and cleaned himself up. His face was almost normal again, only a few dots of light blue remained. He had bought a medicine pack last night, and applied the medi-gel all over his face in hopes of lowering the swelling, and luckily it worked.

When he finished, he left the inn and made his way to where Monument Island was. The mornings at Columbia were always busy. Be it a man selling food from a stand, to the newspaper boy yelling out the current events, Columbia was bustling with life. The Columbia fair was still around, so many people still had their jobs off and continued to celebrate.

Booker reached Monument Island and approached the ticket salesman. "Sorry sir, no admissions today. Monument Island is currently under maintenance."

Booker looked up at Monument Island and thought about waiting, but figured asking a question wouldn't hurt anyone, "I'm Kylar Birch, maybe Elizabeth mentioned me? I was supposed to meet her here."

"Ahh, yes, Mr. Birch. Ms. Comstock is still getting ready, but you're more than welcome to visit her. Just take this lift and walk straight down the main rooms and hallways and you should find a second lift. It'll take you up to her living quarters."

_Elizabeth seems a bit too welcoming towards me. Is she always this way with everyone, or is she seeing me differently than I thought? _He did as the salesman told him, not that he needed the instructions, and made his way up to Anna's home. Once the elevator stopped, Booker didn't see a viewing room with a one-way mirror to watch Anna, he saw a home that would accommodate to a king.

He stepped into what seemed to be a living room, and not long later Anna walked in from an adjacent room.

"Mr. Birch! I'm glad you could make it!"

"Yeah, I wouldn't miss this for the world." He continued to look around and admired the architecture of the room.

"It's a bit too much isn't it? I told my father that I wanted something simple, but he said that the Lamb shouldn't live anywhere but the best. That aside, I'm all ready! You ready for your tour of Columbia?" Anna had her hands interlocked behind her and she was rocking from her heels to her toes.

_For a twenty-one year old, she's still acting young._ "Ready as I'll ever be."

The stepped out of Monument Island together, and Anna motioned a ship used by the cops towards her. "First stop will be Battleship Bay. It's mainly to attract the younger boys to join the force, but I always enjoy the beach. Something about the smell of it makes me happy." They stepped on and made a descent for the beach he remembered falling to.

Booker was a bit uneasy riding the ship. Every time he was on one, he was killing all of the guards and death seemed to loom over him and Anna, but now they were being escorted by the guards.

Once the ship got near the beach, Booker and Anna hopped off and started to stroll towards Battleship Bay. They walked through each shop together, and Anna attempted to tell Booker about the history of Columbia. He was only half-listening, because he'd gotten enough about Columbia's past the first time he was here. He'd give Anna the occasional nod or chuckle to make it seem like he was actually interested.

They eventually got to a theatre house that promoted a film called "Dimwit Starts A Revolution."

"Mr. Birch, do you want to watch this? It's only thirty minutes and I really like it!" She was pulling Booker towards it already, so he couldn't really say no. They went inside and sat near the top row.

"I really like this film because it's about the Vox Populi. I haven't seen them face to face before, but I've seen them on films a lot. Everyone always says bad things about them, but I think that they just had a wrong leader. I think her name was Daisy, and she was working with this other guy. I forgot his name, but its shows it somewhere in this film. I really think they could've have been good if they just changed their methods."

The lights in the theatre started to dim, and the red curtain moved away from the screen. The projector took a bit to start up, but Booker didn't really care. He just wanted it over with. The film started, making a scratching noise with static on the screen for a few seconds, then a black and white picture of Daisy came on. The narrator gave an introduction about her and the Vox Populi, and started taking about a revolution.

Anna yawned beside Booker, and hugged his arm. She rested her head on his shoulder before starting to doze off. Booker ignored her and continued to watch. He himself was about to fall asleep halfway through the film, until he heard a name. His name.

"The Vox grew even more powerful after the death of Booker DeWitt. Seeing him as a martyr, the Vox relentlessly attacked Fink's factory, but was stopped right at its doorsteps by a military blimp."

Booker stared at the screen as posters of him, the martyr of the revolution, were being showcased. The posters barely did any justice to him, as you could hardly recognize Booker in them. He remembered seeing those, he also remembered having a nosebleed. As on cue, he felt a drip coming from his nose and he put his fingers on it. He didn't even bother to check, because something more important bothered him. This wasn't his Anna. _They lied. Again. The Luteces lied to me._

Anna started to move and Booker looked at her. She started to get her handkerchief from her pocket again and held it to Booker's nose. "Mr. Birch, are you alright? Why is your nose bleeding?"

"I-I'm not sure. Can we get out of here? My head is starting to hurt."

They left the theatre and sat at a bench outside. Booker still held the handkerchief to his nose and turned to Anna, "Elizabeth, what happened to Columbia a year ago, during the revolution?"

"The revolution? Well, I don't really know much about it. I don't know much about Columbia before that. My father had me stay up in that tower for 20 years. Then one day he had me move to Comstock House because the False Shepherd was coming. He told me that the False Shepherd started working with Daisy in an attempt to steal me away, but he was stopped." Anna scrunched her nose and bit a side of her lip. She looked like she was in deep thought for a second, before talking again, "Booker DeWitt! That's what his name was!"

"And then the Revolution failed," Booker looked at the ground and whispered, "because we weren't there."

Anna leaned towards him in an attempt to listen better, "Because who wasn't there, Mr. Birch?"

"Nevermind, it's nothing important."

She put her hands on her hips and leaned on one side, "I have a feeling that you're trying to hide something from me."

"Look, Elizabeth, you're right. I do have something to tell you, but I can't do it right now, alright?"

"Mr. Birch, I don't think that it's alright for us to already be keeping secrets on our first date."

Booker nearly choked as he heard those words. _First date?! That's what she thinks this is?!_ He sat there a few moments before looking back up at Anna. He was about to say something, but a scream interrupted him. People were running towards the beach, many yelling incoherently.

"The Vox!"

"They're here again!"

"Where are the cops?!"

The people drowned out Anna trying to talk to Booker. She was starting to yell, but Booker was staring at the Vox. Anna turned towards them, and she started to pull Booker to get to the beach, but he stood firm. The Vox pointed at Booker, signaling to kill him, and then they charged.

Booker pushed Anna behind cover and looked her in the eyes, "Stay safe for me, okay?" Anna nodded at him as he ran towards the group.

There were five Vox and a motorized patriot in the initial wave. He used Possession on the patriot, and then pushed the rest into the air using Bucking Bronco. The patriot made short work of them, but Possession was starting to wear off. Booker step around the patriot and pumped three shotgun rounds into its gears, disabling it.

He searched through the bodies, drinking salts and storing ammo as he found them. He found a note on one of the bodies and was about to read it, but Anna screamed at him, "Mr. Birch! Watch out!"

Booker looked up and a rocket was about to hit him. He rolled over to a side and took cover behind a ledge. He looked up and saw a huge group of Vox coming up on an airship. They started advancing towards Booker, but he saw a tear outline that opened up a rocket automation turret.

"Elizabeth! Open up that tear!"

She looked at him, raising an eyebrow before yelling back, "How do you know about that?!"

"Not now Elizabeth! Just do it!" She opened up the tear for him, and the turret rained hell on the Vox. Booker stood up and picked shots with his pistol, landing firmly place bullets on their heads. Soon all of the Vox were dead, and Anna closed down the tear.

Booker pulled out the note and read it as Anna started to walk over to him.

_Kill the man that's with Elizabeth. He knows too much._

_- C_

Booker looked down at the note, not really surprised by it. _Comstock sent them to kill me._ He heard Anna step behind him, so he crammed the note into his pocket. He turned around, and she had her hand covering her mouth, and her eyes were wide with fear.

"Y-you killed all of them."

"Elizabeth, look, I can explai -"

She looked at Booker, and all the fear in her eyes were quickly replaced with anger, "And you had me help you!"

"Elizabeth, I'm sorry. Look, just let me explain."

"You had better explain yourself Mr. Birch. You're hiding secrets from me, you're killing people, and you know of my abilities! No one else knows about tears other than my father and the late Rosalind Lutece!"

"Elizabeth, I had no choice."

"I suppose you didn't Mr. Birch, if that's even your real name," Anna turned around and started to walk away. She waved her hand in a sarcastic wave towards Booker, "And to think the thought of us being more than friends crossed my mind. Good day to you Mr. Birch."

"Elizabeth! Wait!"

"Nothing you can say will make me stop Mr. Birch!"

Booker ran up to Anna and took her hand and turned her around. "Elizabeth! Will you listen to me for a second?!"

"Let go of me!" Anna shook his hand off and walked away again and yelled back at him, "Give me one reason why I should listen to you!"

Booker turned around, both his hands on his face while looking up. "Because Booker DeWitt was your father."

Anna stopped and turned around, raising an eyebrow while still maintaining a look of anger, "Excuse me?"

* * *

**Welp, there's chapter six for you. I hope you guys still enjoyed it.**

**Oh, and on a side note: You guys don't even know how tempted I was to put "Booker ran up to Anna and took her hand and turned her around, and placed his lips against hers."**

**I sometimes forget that they're Father-Daughter since I'm making Elizabeth flirty towards Booker, but I'm not going to go overboard and make this an incest story. I'm not into that stuff.**


	7. And I Shall Try To Understand

_Disclaimer: All of these characters are borrowed from the game Bioshock: Infinite, and I do not own or have any rights to them. Oh, and there are major spoilers in this story. Don't read unless you've finished the game._

* * *

**Second Run - A Bioshock Infinite Fanfiction**

Chapter 7: And I Shall Try To Understand

By ck-pasta

Anna walked up to Booker, getting within a few steps away, "How could you even say that? That man was lunatic who wanted to bring down Columbia. What type of father would want to do that?"

"A father who didn't know any better. Elizabeth, think of how long you were in that tower. Twenty years! You think Comstock was doing that for your own good? Isolating you, with no contact with the outside world other than books?"

Anna pointed her finger right at Booker's face, "He did that to protect me! And don't you dare say another thing about Comstock! Even if he isn't my father, at least he was there! He didn't leave me!"

Those last words hit Booker hard. He realized that he was the reason Anna had to go through all of that, not Comstock. He's the one that chose to give her away. He looked up at her, her arms were crossed and anger was covering her face, "Look, Elizabeth, I need to explain all of this to you, but I can't do it right now."

She could see that she hit a tight note with him, so she lightened her tone a bit. She was interested in finding out what he meant, and if there was validity in his statements, "And why not? I see no reason that you couldn't, I'm right here and I'm more than willing to hear you out."

Booker put his hands on his face again and fell back onto a bench before uttering out, "Because I'm not ready."

Anna sat down next to him, hands on her lap, and looking at the sky. This lasted for quite a while, before she asked him, "Mr. Birch, who was Booker DeWitt?"

He looked at her, and thought for a moment. "He was a man that made a lot of mistakes in his life. But he told me that one good thing came out of it." He put his hand on her shoulder, making her look at him, "You."

She continued to look at him, "Who are you to him?"

"I'm a really close friend," Booker leaned back on the chair, and looked up at the sky, "You could even say we're the same person."

"Why did he leave me?"

He looked at Anna, "I don't know..."

"Mr. Birch, I really like you, and I think we just started off on the wrong foot."

_When will I tell her?! I can't go on with this stuff with her, she's my daughter for Christ's sake!_ He looked back at her, her blue eyes staring at him. "Elizabeth, we just need to sit down, and talk about this some time. But not right now. I just don't know how to say it yet."

"I wish I could tell you that I understand, but I can't. Look Mr. Birch, I'm interested in my past. Comstock barely acted like a father towards me until he let me out of that tower. Then he opened up more. But I don't even know if I see him as my true father or not. You're right, he's kept me locked up in that tower, trying to protect me from something that might not have even wanted to harm me, but he gave me hope. I believed that through him, I could help the world. Even if it meant to drown it in flames. But what I want to ask, if Booker really is my father, will his story give me the same hope?"

Booker stood up from the chair and looked towards the beach, "I think it will." He started walking towards the beach, and Anna instinctively followed. She hailed down another guard ship, and they took it back to Monument Island. They hopped off, and Anna waited until the guards left before embracing Booker, "When will I see you again?"

He softly pushed her off, "I was thinking tomorrow. Hopefully I've collected my thoughts by then."

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow then. Meet me here at the around the same time you can today. We'll go somewhere else. Hopefully a more quiet place so you can tell me everything." She walked to the lift, and pressed the button to go up to Monument Island. They exchanged smiles right before the doors closed.

Booker walked back to the inn to rest for the remainder of the day. _This is going to be hell for me to tell her the truth._ He got back to his room, sat down at his bed and faced the window.

"Should we ask him how his date went?"

"Oh come, Robert. It looks as if he has enough on his mind already."

Booker turned around to the Luteces, "Wait, before you two leave again, I have to ask you some things."

Robert raised an eyebrow, "Oh? And what might that be?"

Booker crossed his arms and raised his voice just a bit to emphasize his words, "Why was there another Booker in this universe? You told me that this was MY Anna."

"Ahh, it seems he's run it that," Rosalind gestured to Robert, "Would you like to explain, or shall I have the pleasure?"

"Go on then, I wouldn't want to deprive you of this."

Rosalind turned to Booker again, "You see, when you and Elizabeth closed the initial Comstock universes, other ones started popping up. Yours and this other Booker's universes bled together. Much like when you write with an over-inked pen. Comstock still took your Elizabeth, but afterwards, things change. The previous Booker went on to have a gambling problem and built up his debt, so we sent him here for his attempt to save Elizabeth, but as you can see, he failed miserably. Now your universe changed because we interfered. After your baptism with Elizabeth, you were shot back to your office after Comstock took Anna. You probably would have gone down a different path and didn't gamble and drink, but we couldn't leave that to chance, so we took you and held you in suspension for a year."

Robert interrupted, "It was quite amusing, really. You just floated there in darkness for a year. I would poke you ever so often, and you'd mumble like a child."

Rosalind shot a glance at Robert, "Back to what I was saying. When we interfered, this made a split on your universe. One that remembered, and one that didn't. Then we sent you back to your office, knowing you'd not find Elizabeth. To sum it up, there was only one Comstock, but two of you to save her."

Booker's head was spinning as he was trying to understand this. The Luteces gave him time to think it through, then he spoke, "So this is still my Anna?"

"Yes, it is. We know it's kind of hard to understand, especially when you don't have a mind such as ourselves," Rosalind said.

"Okay, so why are you two helping me so much again?"

Robert stepped forward, "Like I said previously, we picked a favorite. If any of the Booker and Elizabeth counterparts were to come together again, we want it to be you."

Booker smiled at them, but quickly turned again into a frown, "But Anna seems to like me more than she should. How do I go about telling her I'm her father?"

Rosalind chuckled and turned to Robert, "It seems that Elizabeth had a different idea when you wanted these two to come together."

"It does make an interesting turn, but we're sure that you're more than capable of handling it yourself Booker."

Booker started to laugh with the Luteces. They may be annoying, but he realized they're the closest thing to friends he has. Then Booker said something that neither Luteces could have predicted, "What were you two like in the past?"

The Luteces looked at each other, both puzzled as to how to answer, "We haven't given it much thought."

"You know Rosalind, for the amount of time we've spent together, you would think we would have talked about our childhood."

"I presumed that yours was exactly like mine."

"Well do tell. I'm very interested into how you turned into yourself as you are today." Robert sat down and placed his elbows on his knees, hands holding up his head.

Rosalind sat down and took a breath to prepare, "When I was a girl, I dreamt of standing in a room looking at a girl who was, and was not myself, who stood looking at another girl, who also was, and was not myself. My mother took this for a nightmare. I saw it as the beginning of my career in physics - "

Booker listened to them as they went on about their lives. He was interested, but most of it became words that he couldn't understand, and in that single moment, he became content.

* * *

**Sorry if this chapter didn't have much action in it. It serves as an explanation for everything, and also as a breather. The ending of the chapter also made me feel warm and fuzzy inside. The idea of being friends with the Luteces was just inspiring.**

**Hope you still enjoyed it!**


	8. The Other Side Of The Coin

_Disclaimer: All of these characters are borrowed from the game Bioshock: Infinite, and I do not own or have any rights to them. Oh, and there are major spoilers in this story. Don't read unless you've finished the game._

* * *

**Second Run - A Bioshock Infinite Fanfiction**

Chapter 8: The Other Side Of The Coin

By ck-pasta

* * *

_Note: This chapter takes place right after Anna and Booker part ways after their little "date." It's Anna's perspective._

* * *

Elizabeth couldn't get a hold of her emotions or thoughts. At one end, she was happy that she got to spend time with Kylar, on the other, she was a bit scared and livid that he knew so much about her, when she barely knew herself. She'd never felt like this towards a man before. Granted, she was locked up in a tower for twenty years of her life, but Kylar Birch just clicked with her. He would listen to her, he would spend time with her, and he would even protect her when danger came. It was as if the two of them already had a relationship with each other.

She traversed the tower and rode up the elevator to her house. Her clothes were dirty from the events earlier that day, so she made sure to get cleaned up before doing anything else. Once she was done, she went over to her library to pick out a book to read before she went off to bed. Her mind was jumble as it tried to figure out what she wanted to read, then she came across Romeo & Juliet. She was still set in a romantic mood, so she figured that this would be a nice read.

As she set off to her room, she heard the elevator coming up. Book hugged in her arms, waited to see who it was. No one else was supposed to have access to her house other than specified guests and her father, so she knew who to expect.

Comstock stepped out of the elevator, hands interlocked behind his back, "So, how was your day?"

Elizabeth laid down the book, slightly jolted towards him, "Oh, it was wonderful! Mr. Birch and I had a splendid time!" She still wasn't sure whether to tell her father about what Kylar told him. On one hand, Kylar may be a lunatic, and breaking off any interaction now would be beneficial. On the other, he may be right. She decided to take the risk.

Comstock started to pace back and forth, and he raised his voice a bit, "The guards told me that you opened up tear earlier. 'Made a machine appear from thin air' is what they described it. Care to explain?" He stopped pacing in front of Elizabeth, and leaned towards her.

Elizabeth was beginning to get a bit anxious. She started to rub around her thimble that was covering her lost pinkie, "W-well, the Vox were attacking, and Mr. Birch needed help or else they might have killed him." She looked down a bit, until she realized something. "Wait, if the guards were there to see that, why didn't they help us out? We were clearly in trouble!"

She looked at Comstock, slightly angered. He put his hand on her shoulder, "My child, my guards were ready to help, should you be in trouble. They saw how this Birch fellow handle himself. Some of them even commented on his spectacular shooting abilities. Did he happen to mention what he does for a living?"

Elizabeth shook her head, "No, we never got to talk about that. I was telling him about Columbia, then we decided to watch a film at the theatre. We were fine, until his nose started to bleed. Then we stepped outside and I asked him why it bled. He told me that he didn't know, but I figured it was from the altitude change, seeing as he is new here."

Comstock's face showed as if he had a revelation. He dismissed it, and looked back at her, "Well my Elizabeth, I'm glad you enjoyed yourself. Just promise one thing, no more tears, okay?" He held his arms out to her, and she hugged him. "Okay, I promise."

Comstock went over to the elevator, and started his ride down, meanwhile Elizabeth went back to her book. She made her way to her room, and placed her book on her bed. There was a golden statue of Comstock in there, which she proceeded to kick until it started playing a tune that she used to fear. She opened her windows, just before Songbird propped his head in, eyes red, and ready to attack.

Elizabeth laughed and started rubbing Songbird's neck, "It's ok, it's just me. I just wanted to talk to you." She smiled at him as his eyes changed to green. He drew his wings in and perched on the balcony outside of her room.

Songbird opened up his hands and let a book fall out of it, right in front of Elizabeth. She picked it up and dusted off the cover, "The Principles of Quantum Physics, Volume 2, by Rosalind Lutece," She looked up at Songbird, "I didn't know she had a second volume." He tilted his head in erratic movements, just like any curious bird. "Thanks, I'll make sure to read it sometime."

She laid it down on her bed next to Romeo & Juliet, before returning outside to Songbird. "Now, you won't believe this, but I just met the most amazing man ever! He's handsome, strong, protective -" Songbird just sat there, looking at Elizabeth. She didn't know whether he actually understand her or not, but it gave her comfort.

During her younger teenage years, when she could still create tears and not just open them, she visited multiple neighborhoods and played with various boys and girls. There she learned how to talk fluently and how to act in society, as a teenager anyways. Although she enjoyed it, something always compelled her to come back to the tower. She never figured out what it was, and she slightly regretted it now that she can't make new tears.

One thing that always stuck out to her was the way the girls her age talked. Teenage girls often talked to each other about the boys they like, describing him to friends and usually bragging about him. Elizabeth never got to experience that. She was never able to meet a boy she saw herself being with. That is, until Kylar came along. Elizabeth felt the desire to tell someone, or something, about Kylar. Her instinctive need to vent was cured only through Songbird. He would listen to Elizabeth, no matter how long she talked.

Sure, Songbird used to be a symbol of oppression during her later teen years, but that changed after the Revolution. When Elizabeth was allowed out, Songbird became less protective, at least, less restrictive to the areas she roamed. She started to like him again, because he was her only friend. Songbird had always been there for her, for the past twenty one years, and took care of her.

Soon, she became tired and hugged the lower body of Songbird. He wrapped his wings around her, and held her with his arms until she started to let. She went to her bed, and Songbird flew away. One thing that always bothered Elizabeth was where Songbird went. Did he continuously fly? Or did he have a nest somewhere in Columbia? She brushed it off, as that didn't strike as important to her at the moment. All she cared about was Kylar Birch, the mysterious man who knew about her past. She lay in her bed, forgetting to read her book, and fell asleep thinking about Kylar.

The next morning Elizabeth woke up to the song of the golden statue. It played a different tune, as to not attract Songbird to come. She got up, and started to get dressed. She made sure to hurry to ensure that Kylar wouldn't have to wait like he did before. It kind of embarrassed her, seeing as he probably waited for a while before the ticket salesman let him in.

When she was done, she started to fix her hair, and tied the iconic bow to her ponytail. She made sure everything was fixed before heading over to the elevator. As she made her way down, she started playing with her thimble. _I've got to get a hold of myself. Kylar probably can tell that I'm extremely nervous. He probably noticed how nervous I was yesterday. I barely got the history of Columbia out of my mouth. That film was a miracle. I finally got to stop talking, and just laid there next to him._

The elevator stopped at the lowest floor, and she made her way to the lift that let her off to Columbia. Just before stepping outside to the garden, Elizabeth heard Comstock talking.

"And make sure that those snipers are in place. I don't want to take any chances this time -"

Elizabeth walked out of the door, "Father?"

"Ahhh, my Elizabeth! Ready to go out already?"

She continued to walk over to the lift, "Well, yes. I offered Mr. Birch another tour. Hopefully this time we won't be interrupted by the Vox."

Comstock laughed, "I'm sure it won't come to that, child. You enjoy yourself!"

She got down to the entrance, and was surprised to see that Kylar wasn't already there. _Hmmm, maybe I'm a little early? Oh well, I guess I'll try to find out where he's staying._

She started to converse to the ticket salesman, "Um, excuse me. Would you happen to know which direction Mr. Birch came from the other day?"

The salesman put on a hard thinking face for a second, "Ohhh, you mean that odd fellow that you said could come inside? He came from that inn over there. Saw him coming out of it that day."

Elizabeth looked over, and saw it. She started walking and said loudly, "Thank you!"

When she reached the inn, she stepped inside and saw innkeeper behind the counter. She was a rather large woman, then Elizabeth asked, "Hello, would there happen to be a Kylar Birch staying here?"

The innkeeper's voice was not pleasant, "Sorry hunny, we don't take names here. But if you find the man you're looking for, better not be doing anything. We don't allow any loud ruckus here in the mornings."

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. She didn't quite understand what the woman meant by "loud ruckus." Do couples often come here and argue the whole morning?

She dismissed it, and asked another question, "Well, would you happen to have any new people staying? He about 6 feet tall, brown hair, green eyes."

"Oh, that new fellow? He's just down the hallway, fifth door on the left. So how'd he get a young gal like you to get on his bed?"

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow, "Excuse me?"

"Y'know, how much he paying you to stick it in?"

It took Elizabeth a bit to realize what she was saying, "Oh, no, he's not paying me anything. We're just friends and I wanted to give him a tour of Columbia."

The innkeeper laughed, "Willing to bet it won't stay that way for long." She walked off right after winking at Elizabeth.

She didn't really know how to take it. She had never thought of having any sexual interactions with men before, let alone with Kylar. She shook her head before heading to his room. Once she got there she knocked lightly on his door. "Mr. Birch?"

The door swung open, but Kylar didn't greet her, Rosalind did. Elizabeth looked harder at Rosalind, "Ms. Lutece?"

Rosalind turned to Robert, "Oh dear. I think we may have overstayed just a bit."

* * *

**Sorry for taking a little longer to dish out this chapter. I was studying for a calculus test, then I started. It took me a while to get the perspective of Anna, seeing as I'm a guy. Hopefully you guys stilled enjoyed it!**

**Oh, and I'm trying to make my chapters a little longer. Going to take the advice of Zetsumei and make them longer.**


	9. The Truth That Slowly Rises

_Disclaimer: All of these characters are borrowed from the game Bioshock Infinite, and I do not own or have any rights to them. Oh, and there are major spoilers in this story. Don't read unless you've finished the game._

* * *

**Second Run - A Bioshock Infinite Fanfiction**

Chapter 9: The Truth Slowly Rises

By ck-pasta

Words started to pour into Booker's ears as his head slowly grew conscious. When he attempted to open his eyes, light coming in from the window blinded them. He covered his face with his hand as he sat up at the edge of his bed. After his eyes adjusted, he looked around and saw Anna, "E-Elizabeth?"

Anna smiled at him, "Hello! I apologize for coming in to your room, but Ms. Lutece and her brother allowed me in."

He looked around and saw that Robert and Rosalind were still in his room. Rosalind turned to him, "Ahh yes, Mr. Birch," she put a sarcastic emphasis on Birch, "Unfortunately, we must be on our way. We wouldn't want to bother the two of you, now would we?"

She gestured Robert to the door, and they let themselves out. Anna was smiling towards Booker, waiting for him to say something. He scratched the back of his head, "So, what did you three talk about?"

She stood up from her chair, "Well, at first I asked how she and her brother were still alive. I thought they had died in an accident with their machine. She explained to me that in a way, they did die. They just now live outside of any universe. They also explained what tears were to me." Anna opened up a tear and let a bird fly through it and it landed on her hand, "They told me that tears were actually doors to different universes, and explained how they work."

Booker was trying to fix himself as Anna was talking. "Speaking of tears Mr. Birch, how did you know I could make them?" She didn't sound angry, but more curious.

Booker's mind frantically searched for an excuse, he just wasn't ready to tell her that he was her father. "Uhm, the Luteces told me about it. I've been talking to them for quite some time." He softly sighed as Anna seemed to believe his lie.

She started to head over to the door, "Well Mr. Birch, are you ready to go for your second tour? I want to know EVERYTHING about Booker DeWitt!" She was excited, which surprised him. He thought that she would be reluctant to know about the truth.

He was about to follow her, until his legs started to cramp up, "Ouch. Actually Elizabeth, would you mind if we just talked here? I don't think I'd be able to get far." He sat down on his bed, and Anna took her place on a chair.

He looked up at her, and her eager blue eyes were watching him, "So, where do you want to start?"

Elizabeth bit a side of her lip as she thought, "Tell me why he left me."

Booker was having trouble figuring out how to convey this to her, "Well, Booker was a gambler. A bad one at that. He made some mistakes with his bets, and lost nearly all of his money. By the time he was done gambling, all he had was an office and you in his name."

Anna's face showed some irritation, "So he sold me to get some money? I thought you told me that he would inspire me." She crossed her arms while maintaining the irritated look.

Booker sighed before continue, "Not necessarily. You see, one of the men he owed money to was Comstock," Anna's eyes widened when she heard the name, "But Comstock threatened him. He told him that Booker had to give you away, or Comstock would kill him. That was the deal, and Booker had no choice but to accept."

Booker didn't know how long he could go on making lies. He didn't even know if Anna believed them, but this was his only chance. If he lost her now, Comstock would send all of Columbia after him.

Anna shook her head in disbelief, "But, I don't understand. What would Comstock want with me?"

"An heir, Elizabeth. He's sterile, so he can't have children of his own. So he took Booker's. He took you. That's why Comstock kept you locked up in Monument Island. To keep him away. He made up the entire story of the False Shepherd just to turn an entire city against a man who wants his daughter back."

"So he came to here to get me?"

"Yes, because he realized what a stupid mistake he made," Booker walked over to Anna and put a hand on her shoulder, "He would rather be dead than not have you." A tear flowed down Booker's face as he said those last words, and Anna's eyes soon followed. They embraced each other as Anna's tears drenched Booker's clothing.

When her tears started to slow down, she slowly pushed away from Booker. "Mr. Birch, everything you have said has matched up with everything I know. I want to believe. But how can I know to trust you?"

He looked her in the eyes, "Because, Elizabeth, I am Bo -" In the next moment, he was on the ground. His vision was blurred, and all he could register was the sharp pain in his left shoulder and Anna screaming. He looked over to the window, and it had a hole that was made by a bullet, and he realized that he was just shot.

Anna scrambled over to his shoulder, and quickly applied pressure to it. Booker had been saved plenty of times by Elizabeth, so he had no worry. That is, until she didn't pull out a syringe that she had on her the first time they were here. Anna was frantically screaming his name, attempting to keep him conscious.

The door swung open, and his last memories were the innkeeper holding his feet as Anna carried his body.

* * *

_Note: The following will be Anna's POV, and it's right before Booker gets shot. This POV change won't be something that happens often (Unless you guys like it), it just fits with the current events._

* * *

She could barely handle what she just heard. There was a chance that everything she had ever known was a complete lie. As she laid her head on his shoulder, she didn't care whether or not Kylar was lying. She wanted to trust him with her entire heart, but she had to hear a reason from him.

Her tears started to slow down, and she slowly pushed away, "Mr. Birch, everything you have said has matched up with everything I know. I want to believe. But how can I know to trust you?"

"Because, Elizabeth," Her heart started to race as she heard this. All she needed was a reason, and she would stay with Kylar, "I am Bo -"

She wasn't sure as to what happened next. A force had pushed her back from Kylar, and left him on the floor. Elizabeth was a bit dazed, and she looked at the punctured window. She saw a man in a blue uniform running away, and then she realized.

_"And make sure that those snipers are in place. I don't want to take any chances this time -"_

_Comstock sent him. He sent everyone. The Vox, the sniper, it was all him._ Elizabeth stood in shock for a moment because of her revelation. Then she realized that Kylar was still on the floor, moaning as blood poured out of his shoulder. She rushed to get pressure on it, "Mr. Birch?! Mr. Birch! Stay with me!"

The innkeeper burst through the door, "Didn't I tell you that you couldn't make any loud nois -" She looked down at Kylar and held a hand over her mouth. Elizabeth was still applying pressure, "Please! You have to help me! He needs some bandages, medi-gel, anything!"

The innkeeper quickly grabbed his legs, "Okay, quick. Lift up his body, and I'll get a hold of his legs. We'll carrying him downstairs, there's a lot of medical supplies there."

Elizabeth started to lift the body, while repeating, "Thank you." Kylar was out cold when they got to the hallway, and she started to get worried. The innkeeper kicked a door down and started to climb down the stairs. Elizabeth followed, and they set Kylar on a table once they were down there.

Elizabeth watched as the innkeeper opened up a medical bag and applied a sizable amount of medi-gel all over Kylar's shoulder. Tears started to flow down Elizabeth's face again, but she was brought back to reality when the innkeeper screamed at her, "Are you just going to stand there?! Apply some pressure on his shoulder!"

She promptly followed, and held down Kylar's shoulder. Once the bleeding seemed to stop, the innkeeper pulled up some chairs and they both fell onto them.

After a while of resting, the innkeeper got up to clean herself off. She offered Elizabeth to do the same, but she refused. Elizabeth sat there and stared at Kylar, thinking about what just happened.

_Why would Comstock want to kill Kylar? This only proves Kylar even more right. The only reason Comstock has to kill him, is because he knows the truth. The truth that Comstock has been hiding from me for twenty one years._ Elizabeth was infuriated at this point. Her tears were replaced with hatred.

In that moment, she wanted to confront Comstock, and asked him about everything he's done. She probably would have too, if Kylar hadn't started to wake up.

Elizabeth quickly stood up to help him. Kylar's moaning was piercing her, she couldn't bear to watch him in this much pain. He sat up, and she looked at his shoulder to ensure that it didn't open back up. It seemed to almost be healed. There were still spots of open skin, but most of it was just a scar. A bad memory.

She watch Kylar, and let him take his time to register what happened. He started to mumble words together, and she got closer to hear what he was saying. "Anna. Anna. ANNA."

She stood in front of him and made sure he could see her, "No, it's me, Elizabeth."

He held his head in pain, "Where am I?"

Elizabeth put her hand on his, "Back in the land of the living."

There was a pause in the moment. She looked at him, relieved that he was still alive, and he seemed to have mutual feelings. She sat back down and let him rest a bit. They stayed there well into the afternoon. When Kylar tried to get up, Elizabeth helped him, "Are you sure you can walk?"

Booker stood up, but flinching in pain, "Yeah, it hurts, but I can manage."

She put his arm around her shoulder to help ease the pain. They were about to walk out of the basement, when two voices stopped them.

"Do you know what I just remembered? We seemed to have forgotten to give him the infusion."

Kylar and Elizabeth turned around, and saw the Luteces there.

Robert put his hands behind his back, "Ah yes. I presume that would have been a great help before all of this happened."

Rosalind held out a yellow beaker towards Kylar, "My apologies, but better late than never I suppose."

Elizabeth helped Kylar to the beaker, and propped it up over his mouth. She let him drink it until it was empty. A yellow bolt of lightning raced around his body, frightening Elizabeth, but it ended soon.

Rosalind put the tray that held the infusion behind her back, "Hm, thankfully it didn't kill him."

Robert raised an eyebrow at her, "I had thought you perfected that infusion already."

Rosalind quickly nodded her head in disapproval, "Heavens no, this infusion is far from being perfected."

"Fortunately, he still seems to agree with it."

"Ah, yes. Anyways, we'll be on our way then."

The lights started to flicker, and the Luteces soon disappeared. Elizabeth was a bit disappointed that she couldn't talk with Ms. Lutece, but she was sure there would be later occasions.

Kylar, on the other hand, started to look adequately better. The bullet scar was still there, but yellow jolts of lightning were rapidly mending it up. She still helped him up the stairs, but with less effort this time.

She looked at him when they reached the top, "What do we do now Mr. Birch?"

She waited for a reply, but it took a while before one came. "We have to find out who shot me, and make sure we find out why."

Elizabeth started to rub her thimble, "I-I think it was Comstock's men."

Booker turned towards her, and put his hand on her shoulder, "Are you alright?" She held her head down for a bit.

Elizabeth had to process this entire thing in her head. In one day, everything that she knew was being crumbled, and the truth was rising from the rubble. She was determined to find out everything. She was with Kylar the entire way, whether it meant following him to his death, or hers.

She looked back up at him, "Yes. At least now I know who I can really trust."

* * *

**And there's chapter 9 for you. Like I said in the note in the middle, the POV change won't happen often unless you guys actually like it.**

**I also apologize if you think that Anna's change in view of Comstock happened so fast. She was still kind of mad at him for keeping her in a tower, but not enough to follow a random guy who says he's there to save her. Hopefully you guys think that there was enough dialogue to suffice the change in heart.**

**Hope you guys still enjoy this chapter, and as always (I've been forgetting to say this), any and all criticism is appreciated!**

**Oh, and to annoyingfan1224, I think you might be thinking that I'll be going to a love story between these two. As I specified before, I won't be going for that. It has crossed my mind, but I don't want to risk ruining the story with it. I just set it up like that to show how awkward/weird it'll be when Anna finds out the truth ;)**


	10. Room For Two

_Disclaimer: All of these characters are borrowed from the game Bioshock: Infinite, and I do not own or have any rights to them. Oh, and there are major spoilers in this story. Don't read unless you've finished the game._

* * *

**Second Run - A Bioshock Infinite Fanfiction**

Chapter 10: Room For Two

By ck-pasta

It all seemed like everything was falling into place. Booker finally convinced Anna to leave Columbia with him, and ironically, with the help of Comstock. Sure, all it took was a bullet to the shoulder, but for Anna, he'd gladly give a limb. A smile came upon him as he replied to Anna, "So let's leave now. We can go anywhere we want! We can go to Paris!"

Anna raised an eyebrow, "Mr. Birch, I think you misunderstood. Although I do trust you over Comstock now, that doesn't mean I don't want to hear his side of the story. As much as I want to go to Paris, I have to know the truth."

All his joy turned to anxiety. If Anna would know the truth, she would destroy the siphon. If she were to destroy the siphon, she becomes an omniscient being like the Luteces. If she becomes like the Luteces, she'll kill him at Wounded Knee again to try to kill all of the Comstocks.

This was a circle, but the question was, will it be unbroken? His heart raced as he tried to find an answer. There were too many complications that could happen. All he wanted to do was leave Columbia and forget about it altogether. Then he came upon a revelation. _I was the one that wanted to kill him. I made the decision. Smother him in his crib._

Although explaining the father situation would be horrendous, Booker began feeling that getting to Comstock was the only option, and he was ready.

He gave a nod to Elizabeth, "Let's pay Comstock a visit then."

They walked out of the inn, and Anna led the way, "He lives in Comstock House. Figures, but I've never been in there myself. I presume we'll be able to find him there."

They walked for quite a bit, seeing as Anna couldn't call the guards anymore. They mostly took lifts and passengers ships, and by the time they were halfway to Comstock House, it was already dark.

Anna turned around on her toes, "So, do you want to keep going, find a place to sleep tonight?" He was tired from all the walking, but didn't want to make the decision. It seemed that every time he did, something would go wrong.

"You decide, I'll do whatever you want." She bit the side of her lip as she was contemplating. After a few seconds, her face lit up, "I guess we could sleep. I know this AMAZING hotel not too far from here."

She grabbed his hand and they sped off towards the hotel. He willingly followed, and they soon got to it. He looked up at the sign, and immediately disliked the hotel, "Songbird's Nest. What kind of name is that?"

"I like it. The people here really like Songbird. He protects them." She said.

He shrugged it off, and went inside of the hotel. The main room was enormous. In the middle there was a shrunken-down replica of Columbia, and there was a golden finish on the wooden walls. Above the check-in desk was a huge mural, probably around 2 stories, of Songbird. He stood for a bit and took in the amazing sight. "You know, for racists and overall a terrible group of people, these people have an amazing sense of art."

Anna turned around, interlocked her hands behind her back, and started to talk while walking backwards, "Well, the people here wanted to separate themselves from everyone else. Everyone down below is so worried about war, economics, and rights that they don't have time to create or appreciate art anymore. Columbia wanted to change that."

When they reached the front desk she turned around to face the clerk, "We'd like a room please."

The clerk turned to Booker, "Would you like two beds, or one?" Upon saying one, the clerk winked over at Booker. He scratched his head while giving half a smile. "Uhh, well," the fact that Anna was staring at him wasn't really helping much either, "I guess two."

The clerk looked a bit disappointed in him while he rung up the room, "That'll be a thousand silver eagles." Booker choked when he heard that.

Anna raised an eyebrow, "How much is a one bed?" The clerk smiled back at her, "One beds are only 750 silver eagles."

She pulled out a silver bar and 250 silver eagles and handed them over to him. _I guess being the Lamb does have its perks._

The clerk pulled out a key from the drawer, and handed it to Anna, "Your room will be on the fourth floor, number 451." Anna nodded whilst taking the key. She walked away, and Booker was about to too, until the clerk gestured him, "She obviously likes you. Take some charge."

Booker shook his head while walking away. They made it to the elevator, and he pushed the button to the fourth floor. It was silent for the first two floors up, until Anna ask, "Mr. Birch, why were you so embarrassed back there?"

He looked at Anna. She didn't seem mad, or annoyed, just curious, "I just didn't think that sleeping on one bed together is right for the time being."

She tilted her head, "Why not? Do people from below not like sleeping together?" Booker rubbed his eyes while sighing.

"Elizabeth, when a man and a woman are sleeping together on the same bed, they don't usually get much sleep." He looked back at Anna, but she still had the same confused face.

"I don't think I understand Mr. Birch. Why would they sleep together, if they weren't going to sleep?"

"Jesus, you really were sheltered. J-just ignore what I said." She shrugged her shoulders and turned towards the door as it opened. They walked down the hall until they got to room 451. They stepped inside, and they were greeted by two familiar faces.

"Seems they chose one bed, Robert." She had a mischievous grin. Robert shared the look, "It does indeed seem that way."

Booker waved their comments away, "No choice. Two beds were too expensive."

"I hardly think that 250 silver eagles is a big difference. If I were anyone else, I'd say you WANTED one bed." Robert still had a grin from ear to ear.

Anna turned to Booker, "You see, Mr. Birch? Sleeping on one bed isn't THAT bad. I'm sure everyone else does it."

He turned to the Luteces, "You two need to quit encouraging her. She thinks this is normal."

"And do explain how it isn't normal." At this point, Rosalind and Robert were just having fun.

Robert leaned forward a bit, "It's true. Rosalind and I share the same beds quite often."

"You two are essentially the same person. I don't really think it counts."

"The same person? Hardly," Robert pulled out a coin from his pocket, "We're quite alike, I'll give you that. But then again, tails is rather different from heads, is it not?" He was spinning the coins on his finger, "We're merely different sides," The coin was tossed up into the air, "Of the same coin." The light flickered, and the Luteces were gone.

The two watched as the coin spun in the air and landed on the ground. _Heads, figures._ He picked it up and shoved it into his pocket. He headed over to the bathroom first, seeing as he was still pretty dirty. By the time he was out, Anna was already laying on the bed, and left a spot for him beside her.

"I think I'll just sleep on the couch." She frowned at him before rolling over again, meanwhile he laid down on the couch. It didn't take long for them to sleep. Both were tired, yet they gained energy from each other. They drove each other to push on when needed.

The next morning both had the intent of sleeping in, but that was interrupted by heaving knocking at the door, "Comstock's guard! Open up!"

Booker quickly got up and prepared his shotgun, whilst Anna stood behind him. The knocking constantly kept getting louder, until for a moment it stopped. They anxiously waited, and the door flew open.

Booker fired his first shot without hesitation, and two of the guards flew back. He pumped the shotgun, and stepped out. There were another two guards down the hallway, but they were within range of the shotgun, and soon enough they were just decorations for the bloody floor.

The two made their way to the elevator with no more resistance, but by the time they came outside of the hotel, they were surrounded. Although mainly normal cops, there was a fireman and a crow waiting to get their turn at Booker. He knew they had to act fast, else they'd be dead before he even got to draw his pistol.

He spotted an automated turret behind the guards, "Elizabeth! Open up that tear!" She followed as instructed, and soon the turret fired upon the guards. He used it as a distraction so that the two of them could get to cover.

By now, the turret had been destroyed so the guards focused on them again. He used Bucking Bronco to lift a group into the air and expertly placed pistol bullets into their skulls. The guards attempted to rush them, but Booker was ready with his shotgun. As they came towards them, he could easily blow 3 or 4 at a time with one shot.

The forces were getting smaller, but so was his ammo supply. He had run out of shotgun bullets, so he pulled out his pistol once more. The guards became hesitant to charge, and the fireman dashed towards him. Booker used his Bucking Bronco once more, but could feel the lack of salt afterwards. He used this opportunity to get close and personal with the fireman. The fire was hot, but he'd dealt with many other firemen before, it was nothing new. He lifted the fireman's helmet, and placed a bullet into his head.

As the fireman fell, he caught the box that he was carrying. He quickly looked through for any ammo, but only cake and a small vial of salt greeted him. he quickly downed the salt, and saw the crow headed straight for him. He unloaded his pistol, but to no avail. The crow simply dodged every shot.

He attempted to use his last Bronco, but he quickly dogged that too. By this time, Booker was out of salts and ammo. He pulled out his Sky-Hook in preparation for the impact, then suddenly a voice yelled out behind him.

"Mr. Birch! Catch!"

Booker quickly turned around a saw a shotgun flying through the air towards him. He caught it and turned around and barely had any reaction time to pull the trigger. The blade of the crow was near Booker's neck, but the hole in his chest stopped him.

He sighed as he pushed the crow to the side and saw the remaining guard fleeing. He looked down and saw a Murder of Crows vigor, and proceeded to drink it. He hallucinated again, and Anna just watched as he screamed into his hands. Once the moment was over, he felt replenished with salts, and could feel the new power surging through him.

He turned to Anna, who was still shocked by the amount of killing they'd done, "Elizabeth, you alright?"

She nodded slowly, and took a deep breath to get a hold of herself. She looked back up at Booker, "Now let's get to Comstock."

* * *

**Sorry this one also took a while to get out. Calculus homework is killing me. Anyways, hope it's still the same quality as before, and I hope you still enjoyed it!**

**I'm not sure whether to put the juicy reveal next chapter, or wait until 12. But Anna's going to know the truth before chapter 13, know that (if everything works according to my plan).**


	11. Power Through Separation

_Disclaimer: All of these characters are borrowed from the game Bioshock Infinite, and I do not own or have any rights to them. Oh, and there are major spoilers in this story. Don't read unless you've finished the game._

* * *

**Second Run - A Bioshock Infinite Fanfiction**

Chapter 11: Power Through Separation

By ck-pasta

It took them a moment to get a hold of their breaths. Booker could tell that it was taking Anna a bit to get a hold of the sense of fighting. He gave her all the time she needed, after all, she's one of the reasons he's still alive. Without her, he wouldn't be able to make it through half of Columbia.

After a bit, she started to gesture that she was ready to leave. They two made their way to the edge of the platform where a passenger ship was supposed to dock. They could see it making its way over to them, but a tinge of red started to rise from the clouds below. Booker strained his eyes to get a better look, but an explosion distracted him.

The passenger ship was in flames, and the screams of men, women, and children could be heard by the two. Anna held her hand over her mouth, while he pulled out his shotgun. Then, one by one, red ships started lifting up from the clouds, and an announcing system blared into their ears.

"The people of Columbia! Are you ready to pay for YOUR sins? Are you ready to have YOUR blood and sweat filling the streets? The Vox Populi will take what is rightfully ours! And this time, you won't stop us!"

Booker looked around for a tear to use, but the only tear was destroyed by the guards. He knew that this would be a losing battle, but he'd rather lose himself rather than Anna. He took her hand, and led her back into Songbird's Nest. The people inside were in panic, not only because of the recent shootout, but also because of the new Vox threat. Booker looked Anna in the eyes, afraid of what would happen next, "Elizabeth, you have to go. Hide, run, do ANYTHING. Just don't be here."

"Mr. Birch, I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying with you until the end," She gave him a stern look. He shook his head in frustration, "Elizabeth, listen to me! We won't be able to outrun them. Not with the amount of weapons and salts that I have. There are no tears to help us here. You have to go. It's your only chance. I'll hold them off as long as I can, just go. Please."

She could see that he genuinely believed there was no way to fight, "Just promise me you won't die, okay?"

She kissed him on the cheek as a tear rolled down her eye, and Booker watched as she ran towards the inner part of the city. He took a deep breath and readied his shotgun. He knew he wasn't going to get far, but he was going to give as much time to Anna as he possibly could.

The Vox were getting closer, and he stepped out of the hotel and pointed his shotgun at them. There were hundreds, all of them in a formation of a triangle, and at the head was Daisy.

He didn't hesitate. After what she'd done to her and Anna the first time he was here, he had no sympathy for her. She deserved to die. His finger pulled on the trigger, and the bullets left the barrel. They were aimed straight for Daisy, but a metallic wall stopped them. Right in front of Booker was a heart, beating inside of a glass container. A giant hand slapped him into the wall, and he couldn't get up.

He did his best to comprehend what just happened, but his vision was blurry, and his ears were ringing. He recognized Daisy as she walked in front of him, "DeWitt?" His last memories were of a fist making contact with his already bruised face.

Darkness surrounded him as he gained consciousness once more. Nothing but a single light above him was present, and he could barely feel a thing. His body was numb, and his eyes were tired. He would have looked around, but his mind couldn't register much. He started to drift asleep again, and he succumbed to it. He couldn't resist.

His eyes opened for a second time, but it was no different from the first picture. He could hear whispers coming from the darkness, but he couldn't say anything. Every word that tried to escape was pushed back in by a deep, sharp pain in his chest. He could feel his hands again, but it was no use. They were behind his back, tied with a rope. If he had more strength he might have tried to break the rope, but his energy was depleted. His mind started to function again, and he could see the wooden floor and the steel chair that he was strapped to. It didn't help, it only gave him even more fear. His body started to shut down again. He needed rest, but he didn't want it. Not like this, but any will to fight it was disappearing.

A slam woke him up, and he saw a silhouette standing at a distance from him. He didn't know who it was, until it started speaking, "So tell me, DeWitt. How is it that you're still here?" Daisy's face came out of the shadow as her eyes pierced Booker's. He tried to speak, but only moans came out.

She got closer to him, almost touching his face, "I saw you die, DeWitt. There ain't no way that you should be here. Now, how are you alive?"

"D-Daisy..."

"There you go DeWitt, use your words."

He tried to say more, but all he could do was give a slight chuckle. If he couldn't mock her with words, he'd mock her with laughter.

She shook her head, and merged back with the darkness. He heard a door open, "You did this to yourself DeWitt. " A deformed fireman stepped into the light. Fire started to flicker from his hands, and he held on to Booker's chair. The heat quickly transferred to him, and it started to burn. He screamed, and the pain was immense. It seemed to last forever, until the fireman let go, and Daisy stepped back in.

"The DeWitt I knew had a purpose, a cause. He wasn't parading around Columbia, walking with those people. No. He was with us. He knew which side was right. Now, which side you on?"

He looked up at her, "My side."

"Wrong answer." She slipped back into the shadows, and the fireman held on to his chair again. His screams once more echoed throughout the room. His skin was starting to peel off, and that pain was becoming intolerable.

His mind was getting cooked, and he was going to pass out. He heard a distant thud, and the pain slowly went away. The fireman stopped, and looked back at the door. It cracked open, and someone talked in, "We need you guys out here. Someone's here, and he or she is killing our men."

The fireman left, and Daisy came close to Booker and put her hand on his chin, "Just stay right here. I'll be back, don't worry. You'd best be willing to talk, and if you aren't, well, you will soon enough. No one can resist forever. Even you DeWitt."

The disappeared, and the door closed. He let out a sigh, something he didn't want Daisy to hear. he didn't want to give her any hints to becoming close to talking. He'd have to ride this out. Parts of his skin were melted to the chair, and he could no longer lift his arms up. They were glued, and there was no way to take them off without someone else's help.

Unconsciousness was slowly creeping once more, and he wasn't going to be able to hold it off. He was on the brink of sleeping, until the he heard a slow creaking. The door was opening, but what was it being opened by? _This can't be Daisy. She wouldn't be sneaking in here. Either this thing is coming in here to kill me, or it's Anna._

He took a deep breath, and barely made out a few words, "E-Elizabeth? That y - *cough*" He couldn't finish his sentence, his lungs wouldn't allow him. The creaking stopped, and he felt a presence in the room, but it wasn't showing itself. Time seemed slow down as his heart started to race faster. His vision started to get blurry, and his fear was taking hold.

He would have started hallucinating, but a foot stepped into the light. It wasn't Anna, it was far too big. Booker was ready to embrace death, knowing there'd be no way out. A thin man followed the foot, and he was wearing cloth over his face. A knife was present in his hand, but he showed no intent of killing Booker. His eyes weren't of a killer.

Booker was still tense though, and as the masked man came closer, he closed his eyes and held his breath. He felt the knife touch his skin, but wasn't sure as to where. A few moments later, his hands fell free. He burst his eyes open, and gasped for air. The man helped Booker up, and he could feel the air going back into his lungs. His arms ached as the skin tore off and held onto the chair.

After he was stable, he looked over to the mysterious man, "W-who are you?"

The man pulled off his mask, and showed a familiar face, "Hey Booker. Heard you've been hanging out in dark basements."

Confusion took over Booker's face, "James? Wha- how?"

A glow of achievement surrounded James, "Well, after we parted, I went back to the Vox and did my research. Turns out, you're supposed to be dead. Right after the attack I heard your name being said, I did some scrounging, and found out you were here! I'd rather help a hero than Daisy any day. Y'know, she's been trying to be like you since you suppose ably died. She's pretty bad at it though."

Booker was confused, but more relieved. He didn't know whether to thank luck, or his past decisions. If he'd killed this boy, he would have been stuck here for God knows how long.

"Oh, and before I forget, here's some medi-gel. Figured you would need it, with all the screaming you've been doing." James threw a bottle towards Booker. He caught it, and started to apply it to his arms. It stung, but it turned cool not long after.

James gestured to him to follow. He complied as he was led by the young man through the building they were currently in.

When they got back to the main floor, Booker saw that they were still in Songbird's Nest. The two were about to go towards the door, but there was a huge crowd of Vox near it. Suddenly, an explosive force nearly half of them back. All the two heard was a loud voice, and it scream three words. Give him back.

* * *

Elizabeth didn't know what to do. Here was Kylar, telling her that she had to leave him, and that was the last thing she wanted. She promised herself to stay with him, but he was so pushed on having her leave.

"Just promise me you won't die, okay?" She kissed him on the cheek as tears started to flow down his face. She forced herself to run. That's all she did, run. She didn't know where, and she wasn't exactly sure why.

Once she got clear of the opening in front of Songbird's Nest, she saw a tear on the side of the building, it was a ladder, and she gladly opened it. She climbed up to the very top, and had a nice view of the Vox, and more importantly, Kylar. He was behind cover for a bit, until the Vox came closer. Then he stepped out. It seemed as if he was aiming for the woman at the front.

A gunshot went off, but it was quickly followed the sharp sound of metal hitting metal. She looked with fear as a Handyman landed in front of Kylar, and slapped him into the building. Elizabeth desperately tried to look for a tear to help him, but he was right. There wasn't any.

She watched as the woman punch him, and he his head fell on the ground. Elizabeth wasn't sure whether he was dead, but her fears were gone when she saw them carrying his body into Songbird's Nest. _They wouldn't tend to a dead body, would they?_

The Vox continued their push, and fire and screams filled Columbia as their sweep came quick and unexpected. Elizabeth looked around for something to help her. _I need to get Kylar back. He's my only hope. He's my only reason._

There was nothing on the rooftop, so she made her way across to other roofs. There was an opening to the inside of a building on one of them, but she heard talking from within. She hid on the side of the opening, and grabbed a metal pipe laying on the ground. The door opened, and she held her breath as a Vox came out by himself. He was looking around, and she took this as a chance to sneak in.

She quickly made her way down the stairs, and tried to make as least of noise as possible. There were two more men in the next floor, and she quickly hid behind the kitchen counter. They were going through desks and drawers, scavenging for items.

She sat still, and hoped they wouldn't find her. Eventually it became quiet, and she slowly raised her head, but that was only greeted by two men in red, arms crossed.

"Well, look at what we have here. A little lady, all alone." The other laughed.

"She has a decent face on her too. Shame no one is here to protect her." They slowly moved around the corner, and Elizabeth started to panic. She wasn't sure what she would do, but worse, she wasn't sure what THEY would do.

They came close, and she swung her pipe at one, but they stopped it and laughed even more.

"She has a little fight in her. But she won't for long. Not when we're done with her."

One grabbed her and held his arms around her chest. She struggled to get out, but he was still too strong. They were taking her across the living room, and to what seemed like a bedroom at the end of the hallway. Her suspicions were confirmed when they opened the door, and a large bed was present.

She struggled even more to get out, but it was hopeless. She looked around to see if there was anything to help her. They threw her onto the bed, and one started to move his hand up her skirt. She saw a tear near the door, and she immediately opened it. She didn't care what it was, she needed something, anything.

A Dollar Bill vending machine came through, "I appreciate a woman, who appreciates value!"

The two men were startled, and stepped back a bit. Elizabeth saw her chance, and grabbed the pistol of one of the men and shot him in the stomach. No words were exchanged, just two bodies falling to the floor. The bullet had gone through the first man, and hit the second. Both were dead, but another pair of footsteps were making their way towards her.

The third Vox came upon the room, and saw her, bloodied and two of his comrades dead. She looked at the gun in shock, and paid no attention to the third Vox. She wasn't sure as to what she just did, and it was still processing. The man screamed, and she quickly turned towards him, and accidentally pushing upon the trigger for a second time. The screaming stopped, and a third body hit the floor.

She started to panic even more, and ran out of the room. She knew that she did it for survival, but that didn't take away the guilt. She sat on the couch, crying and yelling. She needed to let it all out, before she could take anymore in.

It was took her a while to regain her composure, and before she was fully recovered, she heard a man scream, and steam blowing. Down the hallway was a fireman, who had just discovered the dead bodies, and she was the only one to blame. He looked at her, and started to charge. She looked frantically, before she saw that the window was her only means of escape.

She jump out, with little hesitation, and the ground quickly grew closer. She extended her arms in hopes of grabbing something, and she grabbed a railing, but she lost grip and continued to fall. She was slower, but when she hit, it still hurt. She groaned as she slowly stood up.

The ground shook under her, and turned around to the that the fireman followed her out the window, and landed on his feet. She attempted to run, but his hand caught her hair. Her screams echoed through the alley, as her head started to heat up more. She could feel and smell her hair burning in his grip. She kept trying to pull off, and she lunged forward as all the force keeping her back left. She turned around to see the fireman throw the remains of her ponytail onto the ground.

Elizabeth quickly got up and started running. An explosive wake was booming behind her, but she relentlessly evaded him. They came upon the main street, which by now was deserted. She looked around for a place to hide, but there wasn't any. She then spotted a tear, not too far from her. She ran towards it, as the alleyway exploded behind her, and the fireman emerged from the smoke.

She wasn't sure as to what the tear was, and it looked almost alien-like to her, but she called it in nonetheless. From thin air, a man in a huge metal suit appeared. He had a cage in front his face, and was wearing what seemed to be an underwater suit. His right hand seemed to be completely missing, and was replaced with a giant drill.

The fireman slowed down as he saw his new foe. He quickly threw a few fireballs at the apparition, but it had no effect. The beast started a jog towards the fireman, his steps shaking the ground. The fireman looked around in panic, and just as he was about to run, the drill started to pierce his armor.

The beast's rotating drill shred its way to make contact with the fireman's skin. The fireman screamed as his organs were blended together, and soon after, he was dead. The monster threw him onto the ground, and faced Elizabeth. he calmly walked up to her, and waited to follow. She examined him, and tried to study as to what exactly he was. She couldn't decipher him, and just attended to the body of the fireman. She looked around, and found his box that he carries around. She opened it, and saw salts and a Devil's Kiss vigor.

Normally, she'd never even think of drinking a vigor. There were too many unknown side effects, and she wasn't willing to take the risk. But circumstances changed. She opened it up, and downed the entire bottle. Her hand started to feel hot, and she looked at them as they started to crack open, and molten lava seemed to flow out of her skin.

It soon went away, and her body felt as if it had more power in her. _So that's why Kylar screamed when he drank that Murder of Crows._

She turned to walk back towards Songbird's Nest. She was determined to get Kylar back.

The metal man continued to follow her, and she eventually stopped at a barber shop. There she examined her burnt hair, and cut off any uneven pieces, until it was almost perfect. Her hair was short, stopping just before it got to her neck.

She continued towards Songbird's Nest, and when the two got back to the clearing in front of it, they saw that the Vox had already set up a base. There were sandbags and small wooden walls that were to be used for cover should an attack come.

Elizabeth closed her fists, and felt the fire surging through them. She ordered the metal man to charge at the Vox, and followed right behind him. The Vox were startled at the sight, and barely had enough time to react. The beast was tearing through the Vox, although he seemed to be getting slower from pain. Elizabeth figured that this would be the perfect opportunity to test out the vigor.

She closed her hand, and threw a small fireball across the sky. She observed it, and saw it flicker from red to grey. It held many similar traits to a tear. She figured it was worth a shot, and tried to open a tear within the fireball. When it opened, the fireball grew massively bigger, and caused a huge explosion, nearly killing everyone in the courtyard.

The metal man laid there, being caught in the explosion. She realized how greatly her tears affected vigors, and she was ready to use it.

Nonchalantly, she walked near the entrance, and there she was stopped by a couple of Vox pointing their guns at her. She threw a Kiss at them, and she opened up the tear within it. A huge explosion blasted the entrance of the hotel open, and she saw a number of Vox blown back.

She started to create another Kiss in her hand, and instead of waiting to throw it, she opened the tear whilst in her hand. The fireball slowly grew bigger, and she maintained eye contact with the Vox.

"Give. Him. BACK!" The Kiss left her hand, fully grown, and aimed at the crowd. Screams filled the air, but she didn't care. She wanted Kylar.

* * *

**Sorry for taking 3 days to post the next chapter. To make up for it, I made this one substantially longer. Hopefully you guys can forgive me for taking so long. It's the weekend, so I'll be able to pump out a couple of chapters.**

**Hopefully you guys still enjoyed it! Tell me what you guys liked/didn't like, and I'll see if I can accommodate for you!**


	12. The Truth Shall Set You Free

_Disclaimer: All of these characters are borrowed from the game Bioshock: Infinite, and I do not own or have any rights to them. Oh, and there are major spoilers in this story. Don't read unless you've finished the game._

* * *

**Second Run - A Bioshock Infinite Fanfiction**

Chapter 12: The Truth Shall Set You Free

By ck-pasta

In another instant, there was a second blast that followed. Booker and James quickly found cover behind a few desks while the fire continued to surge throughout the lobby. Men were screaming as their bodies only provided fuel for the flames.

Gunshots echoed through the room, but they slowly died down as less men were able to shoot. A few of the Vox even started to run away and made their way to the upper levels in hopes of not being found. As the noise lessened, Booker poked his head up to see what had caused all of this calamity. In the center of the room was a young woman. Short hair, arms crossed, and eyes that surveyed the room. He didn't know who it was, until she turned to his direction, "Elizabeth?"

James pulled him back, "Is that the Lamb? Why is she here?"

He stood up, and gestured James to follow, "Elizabeth! Over here!" She quickly reacted, and started to run over to him. She embraced him, and Booker gladly accepted. It was a few seconds of silence, until Anna broke it, "I thought I was going to lose you Mr. Birch."

The moment was broken by James, "Mr. Birch? Who is that?" Booker shot a glare at him, and he knew not to say anymore about names.

"Uhh, well, Elizabeth, this is James. He was part of the Vox, but he helped me out." She examined him, but only slightly. She was more worried about Booker and getting out of here.

James threw up both of his hands and started to wave them in front of his face, "Wait, wait, wait. Is THIS why you had me take you to Monument Island? To take the Lamb?"

"He didn't just take me. He showed me the truth." She replied. They were reminded of their surroundings as a large piece of burning wood crashed beside them. The three quickly ran out of the hotel, and stopped in the courtyard to turn around. Songbird's Nest was almost completely in flames, and Anna caused it.

Booker turned to her, "How did you manage to do all of that?"

She whipped out her left hand, and let a small flame emerge from it, "I drank a Vigor. It also seems that my tears can enhance their effects, as you can clearly see." He didn't know whether to be amazed or afraid. He shook his head after looking at awe towards her, "Well, let's just get to Comstock. I'm sure that Vigor and Tear combination will help."

James looked at the two with confusion, "Comstock? I'm not going anywhere near that guy. You two can go, I'd rather take my chances with the Vox than Comstock."

Booker offered him his hand, "James, are you sure? We could use all the help we can get."

"Absolutely. The Vox may be bad, but they aren't crazy."

He bid them goodbye as he headed towards Songbird's Nest to appear as if he'd been part of those wounded. Booker and Anna watched for a bit, before turning to leave once more.

They made their way to Comstock House again, with much less resistance. The Vox seemed to have cleared the way out for the most part. The two made it to the Bank of the Prophet with ease, but from there it went downhill.

There were Vox everywhere, and it seemed as though they had the same goal as them - get to Comstock House.

"How do you want to go about this?"

Anna gave him a confused look, "Me? You're the one that knows how to do this stuff."

"But I'm not the one that just wiped out hundreds of Vox with two hits of Devil's Kiss, now am I?"

She shook her head, "Mr. Birch, that was a matter of circumstance. You were in trouble, and I was set on getting you back. I don't think I have the heart in me to do anymore killing like that."

He was looking around for a bit. He didn't want to go with a head on confrontation if Anna wasn't going to be up for it. There wasn't much on the ground to help him, so he looked up. There was a single tear available in the sky, and it was the only way he saw to get through without causing a huge fight.

"Elizabeth, open up that tear right there. The Mosquito." She obeyed, and the machine started to make its way towards them, "We're not doing what I think we're doing, are we?"

He grabbed onto the Mosquito, and held his hand out to her, "Do you trust me?"

Her hands were clamped up into fists, and she held them near her chest as she looked down towards the bottomless abyss underneath Columbia. She slowly extended her hand, and once she grasped Booker's, they were on their way. She kept her free hand on her mouth to prevent her from screaming, and looked up to him as comfort.

He gestured the machine to head for Comstock House, and it complied. Underneath them were hundreds of Vox, all getting ready for a raid on Comstock. A loud PA system started to fill the air, "It's time Comstock paid for his sins! It's time we get what we want! It's time we stopped living in the dirt, and for him to taste what we've tasted!"

A roar of approval ringed from the crowd. Anna shook her head, and looked up at him, "Why are they doing this? Is life in ShantyTown really that bad?"

He looked down at her, "No. Not for the amount of killing they've done. All of Columbia will soon be a ShantyTown once they're through."

The Mosquito landed them near the entrance of Comstock House, just past the bridge. There was a large army station on the bridge, getting prepared for the incoming Vox. They snuck past them and made it inside.

The two made their way to the door that was now open, unlike the first time Booker came here. No one was inside, and the two figured they were all preparing for the Vox. They eventually came to a large room with an atrium in the middle. Memories of Anna screaming filled his mind, and anger grew even more inside of him. They made their way to the back, and took the elevator to Comstock's main office.

"Listen to me Elizabeth, no matter what happens, we're getting through it. Together. I'll never abandon you."

She looked at him with her blue eyes, "You wouldn't, would you?"

The door opened and a few guards and a turret immediately shot at them. He quickly possessed the machine, and it made short work of the guards. Booker quickly picked up a carbine from one of the guards and shot at the turret before possession expired. He scavenged the guards, and picked up all the ammo he could find. All he had now was a carbine and ammo for it.

He looked out the glass windows and doors before turning around to go into Comstock's office, "You ready for this?"

She let in a deep breath, "No." She swung the door open, and Comstock was sitting at his table reading a Bible, "Ahh, my Elizabeth! Where have you been?" He was holding her hand and looking at her scars.

"Hey! Let her go!" Booker demanded as he got closer.

Elizabeth allowed Comstock to tend to her, "Tell me, what am I?"

Comstock looked at her, "Elizabeth, everything I've done. I've done to keep you safe."

"Safe from what?"

"The seed of the Prophet shall sit the throne, and drown in flames the mountain of man. But the archangel revealed something else: Beware, Prophet. Beware the False Shepherd, Booker DeWitt, for he shall be a wall between her and destiny."

"But he was my father! You stole me from him!"

Comstock disregarded what she said and turned to Booker, "Mr. Birch, I'm a fool. I've sent mighty armies to stop you. I've rained fire on you from above. I did all that to keep you from her, when all I needed to was tell her the truth," He turned back to Anna, "Ask him, child. Ask him what his name is."

She looked at Booker, "W-what's is he talking about?"

Booker held out his hand to her, "Elizabeth, I -" Comstock interrupted him, "Well go on! Tell her your name!"

She stomped a foot on the ground, "Kylar! What is he talking about?"

Comstock slowly moved towards him, "You see, you thought the truth would be your savior. But in the end, it was your demise. You thought that my sweet Elizabeth would always believe your lies. Isn't that right, DeWitt?"

Anna looked at him with confusion, "Y-you're Booker?"

He started to make his way to her, "Elizabeth, I can explain."

Comstock got in between them, "It's far too late for that. Now, you have to answer for your sins."

A giant hand crushed through a wall, and tore it off. Songbird's head popped into the room, his red eyes changing the tone of colors. He looked at Booker, and let out a screech that was near deafening, and grabbed him.

He tried to break himself free, but Songbird was far too strong, "Elizabeth!" Songbird continued to fly, and soon Comstock House was out of sight, "Let go of me, you feathered sack of shit!" This only caused Songbird's grip to tighten, and he was running out of air. They continued to fly for a few more moments, until they got to what seemed like a nest underneath Monument Island. It was large, but completely hidden unless one were to see Monument Island from below.

Songbird dropped him into the nest, and Booker screamed as he hit the brittle floor. Songbird circled the nest a few times, before disappearing into the clouds. Booker groaned as he slowly got up.

"Should we help him?"

"Now, I don't see any fun in doing that." Once he was up, he turned around to see the Luteces, "Where'd Songbird go?"

"We assume back to Comstock House. More than likely waiting to get his next orders on what exactly he should do with you," Rosalind answered.

"So do you two have any idea on how to get out of here?"

Robert chimed in, "At the moment? No. This is actually the first time we've ever been here. Songbird usually rips you to shreds, he's never taken you back to his nest."

Booker crossed his arms, "I guess I'm lucky."

"I wouldn't really call it luck. Hard to imagine what Comstock has planned for you," Rosalind said.

"So you have no clue how to help me in any way?"

Robert stepped forward, "Well, there we do have one piece of advice. Unless you get songbird to help you, he'll always stop you. I presume you remember the tune."

"Cage? Kind of hard to forget, but I don't have a whistler on me."

Rosalind spoke up, "Oh, you're right. If only we were underneath a tower filled with golden statues that all have whistlers in them."

Booker ignored the sarcasm, and looked up to see if there was any way onto the main level. There was a platform nearby that seemed to be used for maintenance. He figured that there would be a way up from there, only problem was there was a huge gap between the nest and the platform.

"Could you guys give me a boost or something?"

Robert raised an eyebrow, "We're not much for physical help, sorry. Besides, you could make that jump. Just have a little faith."

Booker shook his head, and stepped back to get a head start. He ran forward and leaped towards the platform. He managed to catch it with his arms, but started to slip. He fell back until only one arm held on, and the other dangling. Robert was above him, "Circumstances change, I suppose."

He offered his hand to Booker, and he gladly accepted. Robert pulled him up, and Booker panted , hands on his knees, "Thanks, I apprecia -" He looked around and he was gone. Booker made his way to the maintenance ladder, and climbed up.

He emerged into the courtyard, behind some bushes. he pushed them out of his way, and walked into Monument Island. _I could free her right now. I just have to get Songbird, and have him destroy the Siphon_. He looked around, but realized there wasn't a Siphon here. It was moved. _I'll worry about that later then. Just have to get to Anna right now._

He approached one of the golden statues, and picked up a chair. He beat it, and it's tune started to play. It tipped over, and the whistler slid out of it. He quickly grabbed it, and could hear Songbird's screech getting closer. He looked at the notes, and quickly played the notes C-A-G-E. Songbird landed in front of him, his claws near Booker's face.

Songbird's eyes turned green, and he lowered his hand. Booker approached him, and put his hand to Songbird's, "Let's go get Elizabeth."

* * *

**I was going to go in depth with Songbird's history, and make up my own story on that, but I figured that would be best left to Levine. I'm planning on ending this story on chapter 20, so there is still quite a bit more after this. I'm also going make the last chapters longer.**

**Anyways, hope you guys still enjoyed this chapter!**


	13. Unhappy Reunions

_Disclaimer: All of these characters are borrowed from the game Bioshock Infinite, and I do not own or have any rights to them. Oh, and there are major spoilers in this story. Don't read unless you've finished the game._

* * *

**Second Run - A Bioshock Infinite Fanfiction**

Chapter 13: Unhappy Reunions

By ck-pasta

Her head spun in disbelief as a giant hand grabbed Mr. Birch in front of her. Her thoughts clustered as it attempted to decipher what exactly just happened. She stood for quite some time until she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"My sweet Elizabeth -" She quickly turned around and pushed Comstock's hand off, "Get off of me!"

Comstock took a small step towards her, "Elizabeth, you now know the truth. That man was the false Shepherd, and everything he did was to lead you astray. I prayed that this day would not come again, but it did. And you're alright now."

She faced down at the ground, "H-he's my father..."

Comstock was taken back, "My dear child, what lies did he tell you?" She looked back at him with a sense of anger. She stood firm and pointed out of the hole made by Songbird, "He was my FATHER!"

"Elizabeth! That man lied to you so that you would go with him! He is not, nor will he ever be, your father!"

Tears started to form in her eyes, "My entire life is a lie. That's all anyone ever does to me." Comstock attempted to comfort her, and got close to embraced her.

She quickly pushed him off, "I said get off!" A Devil's Kiss started to form in her hand.

Comstock stumbled back as he looked with fear at Elizabeth, "D-did you drink a vigor Elizabeth?! We don't know what that could do to you!" The Kiss started to slowly grow bigger and bigger in her hand, "I know what it can do to me."

Comstock called for guards to come in, and Elizabeth quickly retaliated. The door turned intoa burning entrance. She looked back to where Comstock was, but he was gone. She saw him jumping out of the hole, and she quickly followed. He had landed on a platform below, and he screamed in pain. She watched him limp into the building, and turned around to pursue.

More guards started to flow in, but her fireballs were too strong. Nothing was left other than the ashes of the dead. When she stepped out of the room and Comstock's flagship, The Hand of the Prophet, flew by the windows.

She could feel the salts running out, so she quickly looked for more, but there wasn't any. She shrugged it off and started to pick the lock on the door.

The door swung open and the screams of woman and men alike echoed in the distance. The Vox had started to attack, and it wasn't clear as to who would win. She stepped out and looked for a way to follow the ship, but there wasn't any.

She turned towards the battle field with Vox and Comstock's men to look for a ship. There was a single one down there, and she turned back into the building. She took the elevator down, hands anxious as she played with her missing pinkie.

She wasn't sure if she was ready to do what she had planned, she wasn't even ready to take in all of this. The door opened on the main level, and the gunshots became considerably louder as she approached the bridge.

The Vox seemed to not be making any progress, and Comstock's guard was doing their job. Still, she needed to get to that ship. She looked around for a tear, and found a rocket automation. It opened and started to rain down bombs on the guards and the Vox.

She looked around and saw some salts meant for the firemen in crates. She quickly got a hold of it and drank a healthy amount. She felt invigorated as the surge of energy flowed throughout her body. She looked up at the bridge, and threw a single Kiss towards it. The tear within was opened, and bodies flew from the bridge as it started to collapse, effectively cutting off the Vox from her.

Now that there was less resistance, she slowly made her way to the ship, and realized that she couldn't get to it due to the bridge being gone. She screamed in frustration, and then heard a familiar screech in the distance.

Songbird cut through the clouds, and quickly spotted her. He rushed to get to her, and landed near her, crushing his surroundings in the process. Elizabeth was attempting to get ready to fight, until she saw Booker.

"Elizabeth!" She kept a stern face, and as he walked towards her and she opened a tear near them. An automated robot appeared and pointed its gun at him, but it didn't fire. He stopped walking.

"How did you get him to listen to you." It wasn't in the form of a question, more of a demand.

"I-I just used the whistler. Elizabeth, are you alright?" He took a step towards her, but a bullet hit the ground in front of him, reminding him of the turret.

"Explain how you did it Mr. DeWitt." She crossed her arms, and maintained her stern look. Booker was dumbfounded, and had no clue how to respond.

He looked her in the eyes, scared, "Elizabeth, why?"

She was barely holding the tears back, "Mr. DeWitt, the only reason you're still alive right now is because of what I thought we had. I can clearly see now, that idea cannot be fulfilled. So I'm going to say again, how did you do it?"

"E-Elizabeth, I was going to tell you, I just didn't kno - " A bullet hit him in the leg. Tears started to flow down her face, "Booker, just tell me."

He held his leg in pain, and threw the whistler at her, "The tune is cage. C. A. G. E." She picked it up and walked past him.

"Elizabeth! Why?! I did everything I could to get you back! Just like any father would!"

She held Songbird and turned back to him, "I never wanted a father Booker. Not since I found out both of them treated me like an object."

She played the tune and Songbird flew up with her in his hand and made way to Comstock's flagship. Elizabeth started to bawl as they flew. She didn't wasn't sure what she would do afterwards, but she knew one thing. She had to kill Comstock.

* * *

Booker winced in pain as he saw Anna leave with Songbird. His leg was bleeding a lot, and he had no way to bandage it up. He looked around and saw a fire and started to limp over to it. He took a piece of wood and allowed it to catch on fire, and took found a gun lying beside him.

The tip of the gun heated up over the fire, and once it turned a bright orange Booker applied it to the wound. He screamed as the metal touched his skin and sealed the opening. He laid there for a while, not knowing what to do.

His eyes were closed, and he was lying on his back. There wasn't anything he could do, he was stuck. His mind tried to put the pieces together that explained why Anna was so mad. He just didn't get it. _So what if I'm her father? I still saved her from Comstock. I did my best, and I thought we could walk out of here._

A hum started to grow louder, and he opened his eyes and saw Vox in a ship coming towards him. It docked near the edge of the collapsed bridge, and they started to get out. Booker counted seven of them, and waited until they passed for him to move.

When they passed, his slowly got up and looked around. He managed to scavenge a carbine from amongst the dead, and tip-toed over to their ship. He jumped on and opened the door for the controls, and a man was in there and they stared for a couple of second. The man started to scream and Booker shot him, but not before the others heard.

The seven Vox started to run back and shoot at Booker, and he quickly tried to figure out the controls. He managed to raise the ship higher up into the air, just enough so that the Vox couldn't reach it. He aimed around the edge and started to shoot at the Vox. This little firefight lasted for a few minutes, but Booker disposed of them.

Once bullets no longer distracted him, he went back to the cockpit and looked at the controls once more. He managed to punch in some coordinates and the ship started to fly in the same direction Songbird went.

He constantly had to watch around him, because he wasn't sure what Anna had gone after. He had been flying for a while before distant explosions caught his attention. Bright flashes of light came off in the distance, and he changed the course of the ship towards.

When he got closer, it became more clear that the lights weren't explosion, they were electricity. He focused his eyes on the ball of light, and saw a lone figure in the middle. He couldn't make it out until he was almost here.

In the center of the light was Anna. Arms spread apart and yelling a scream that pinched Booker's ear. He started to panic, and attempted to make the ship go faster in any way he could. A mysterious machine was on top of the main deck of the Hand of the Prophet, and he realized what it was. A Siphon.

* * *

It took her a while to gain her composure once more. They'd been flying for what seemed like forever, and her eyes were completely dried. She didn't know if it was the right decision to leave Booker like that, even if he wasn't a Kylar to her anymore. He was still her father, a real one who actually showed compassion towards her, unlike Comstock.

She shook her head and remembered why she was here in the first place. _He gave me away to pay off some debt. He had his chance with me, and he gave it away._

A figure in the distance brought her back to reality as Comstock's ship came into view. She took deep breaths as she prepared to confront Comstock. Songbird landed on the top deck, and punched a hole in the cockpit. Comstock stood there, unafraid of his creation.

A golden statue started to hum a tune, and Songbird immediately dropped Elizabeth, and she got up, dusting herself off. She pulled out her whistler and started to play the tune Booker had mentioned, but Songbird didn't obey, "Child, have you not learned? I cannot be beaten. So why continue to resist? Join me Elizabeth, and together we'll cleanse the world!"

She threw the whistler down and angrily turned to Comstock, "Cleanse the world?! From what? The innocent people!? The people who don't steal another man's child?!"

"My child, you truly are stubborn headed. There's no way you can win my Elizabeth. Either you willingly follow me, or I force you to. There's only one ending to this story, child. And it's you standing at the head of this ship as the world burns."

"You can't decide what I do with my future. No one can." She started to form a Devil's Kiss in her hand, but Songbird grabbed her from behind, dousing the flames and subduing her.

Comstock nonchalantly approach her, "You see Elizabeth? Why resist? You can't do anything, not on your own. Only with me can you truly be great."

"I'd rather be dead than be with you!"

"If you wish my child." He waved his hand at Songbird, and then sat down at his chair, hands interlocked and holding his head up. Songbird turned around and held Elizabeth over a machine. She wasn't sure what it was, but a flash of light came around her, and suddenly all of her power drained away. She screamed as her very soul was being sucked away by this machine.

"Such as a lion watches their child get hurt, it pains me to see you like this. but you did this Elizabeth, you did this. Even if you would not stand by me, you will watch as I use your power to destroy the world, and drown in flames the mountain of man!"

She was completely immobilized. She struggled, but that only made the pain worse, and knowing that Comstock would use her to destroy everything didn't make it any better.

She heard a crash behind, but couldn't see what had happened. In the next moment, she was on the ground with Booker holding her by the hip. They both looked back at Comstock, and anger was written all of his face. He pointed a single finger at the two, and Songbird came up from the clouds and dashed for them.

They exchanged no words, and Booker picked her up and helped her. They came to the edge of the ship not knowing what to do, but Songbird was close, and there was only one thing they could do. Jump.

* * *

Air rushed past Booker's face as the two of them fell across the dark sky, "Elizabeth! Open up a tear! Do anything!"

She frantically looked around, but nothing was close. As they fell past the cloud line, she saw a tear under them, and opened it. The two fell on a blimp, and the balloon softened their landing, but they couldn't get a good grip. They slipped down the side, and continued to fall towards the Earth beneath them.

The two closed their eyes as before they hit the material below. Water started to fill his lungs when he realized where they'd fallen. He swam towards the surface of the water, and saw Anna in the distance. He swam towards her and held her in his arm.

He looked around, and saw the coastline not too far off. He began to swim towards it, Anna in one hand and using the other to push himself forward. It took a hefty amount of minutes before he reached the shore, and by the time he did he was completely out of energy. He dropped her on the sand, and fell on his back beside her and closed his eyes.

When he came back to consciousness, he looked beside him and Anna wasn't there. He looked around, and she was standing behind him, drying off her clothing. He stood up, and walked over towards her, "Elizabeth, are you alright?"

"I'm alright Mr. DeWitt, now please, don't follow me anymore."

"Elizabeth, why?"

She stopped drying her clothing, "Mr. DeWitt, you fooled me. You told me a tale of a heroic man trying to save his own daughter just to make yourself looked better when, or if ever, you told me the whole truth. But even worse, you led me on."

He stepped closer, "Look, I'm sorry, alright? I was going to tell you, but the time was never right."

She looked up at him, tears starting to form, "Booker, I loved you. I loved you more than any woman should love a man. I was ready to die for you. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. But you couldn't bring yourself to tell me the truth. To end the charade. No, you had to have Comstock do that for you."

Booker grabbed her hand, "Elizabeth, we can still be together. We can go anywhere you want."

She violently shook his hand off, "You know that it's not the same! I saw you in ways a daughter should never see their father! I wanted more! I still want more..."

She sat on the ground and put her hands on her face and started to cry. Booker didn't know what to do, he didn't know how to comfort her. He sat down beside, and hugged her as she cried. She didn't resist this time, and willingly leaned on him as he stroked her hair.

"Elizabeth, I'm going to make this right. I promise you." She sniffed as she gently pushed away from him, "That is an oath you cannot keep." She stood up and started to walk away.

"Elizabeth! Where are you going?" He ran up to her again and grabbed her hand to turn her around.

"I'm going to Comstock."

"Why? Paris, Elizabeth, remember Paris? We can go there right now."

"Booker, Comstock won't stop until the world is united under him. I cannot allow that to happen. I need to stop him."

"I won't let you Elizabeth." She turned around at him as a tear opened up behind her. A tornado was rapidly closing in on both of them, "Really Booker? And what are YOU going to do to stop me?"

"Nothing. I'm going to do it for you."

* * *

**Okay, before I say anything else, I just want to say that I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooo sorry for not posting in a long time. Finals are coming up, and I've been studying my butt off. I didn't want to work on the story during that, because I would feel rushed and the story would be the same quality as before.**

**Once again, I'll have to apologize if it becomes a once a week post. BUT in two weeks (mainly after May 18th), I'll be out of finals (although I still have a couple of days left), and I'm going to make this story, and I'm going to end it.**

**Mostly, these have been at an average for 2.5k words, but I plan on making at least the last 5 chapters 10k each, so get ready for that :D**


	14. Long Ways From Home

_Disclaimer: All of these characters are borrowed from the game Bioshock Infinite, and I do not own or have any rights to them. Oh, and there are major spoilers in this story. Don't read unless you've finished the game._

* * *

**Second Run - A Bioshock Infinite Fanfiction**

Chapter 14: Long Ways From Home

By ck-pasta

The tear closed as Anna sighed with relief. Booker took her hand and pulled her in to embrace her, "C'mon, we gotta get moving if you wanna get back to Columbia."

They let go and started walking side-by-side farther inland. He saw some lights in the distance and figured that'd be where the nearest town was. Anna looked around, mesmerized by the new sights that her eyes feasted on. She sped up her pace and put her hand on a tree, "Look Mr. DeWitt! It's a tree! I've read about them in my books, but I never thought they were this big!"

A half grin appeared on his face, "Just call me Booker."

"Oh, okay... Booker." He could tell it was a bit uncomfortable to her, but nonetheless he was getting tired of being called "mister." This went on for quite a while. Anna looking at something she's never seen before, explaining them to Booker how she's read about them, then going on to tell how amazing it looks in person.

Booker didn't mind the fact she was overly excited about being out of Columbia, but he didn't want to go back himself. They're finally free now, and yet Anna still wants to go back. It bothered him quite a bit, but he also didn't want to lose her again.

She was ahead of him by now, and he watched her dainty body skip across the groves of the forest happily. He smiled as she continued to gesture him to different plants and animals that she's never seen before, and how she presented her immense knowledge of every single item. He looked at her face as her bright blue eyes pierced his. She was happy, which made him happy.

They continued to walk for hours on end, time not bothering either of them. They were free for a moment, and they cherished the relaxation that came with it. Eventually they came upon a dirt road, "Where do you want to go now, Booker? We can keep cutting through the forest to get to the city, or follow this road. I presume the road is safer, but it would take longer."

He thought about it for a minute, then hoof beats came from the distance, slowly getting louder, "I think our answer may be coming up."

A horse drawn cart came closer, Booker and Anna waving their hands in the air to get the driver's attention. He slowed down in front of the two, "Where you headed?"

Booker stepped forward, "Closest city. You think you could give us a lift?" The man waved his hand, "Yeah, sure. Just hop on to the back of the cart. It'll be a little tight, but just move some of the produce and you'll fit."

Booker grabbed Anna's hand and led her to the back. He let her place her feet on his hands to give her a boost up and followed right behind her. There baskets of fruit and some bales of hay on the cart, and Booker made a chair for Anna out of the hay. He sat on the floor as Anna intently looked at the sky, "Hey, we're all good back here!"

The farmer snapped his reins and the horse began to pull once more. Anna gave a warm look to him, "Booker, tell me something." He looked up at her, "What?"

She anxiously played with her thimble, "How did it end up like this?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why did you give me away?"

He sighed, "I guess I should start from the very beginning, huh?"

"That would be preferable."

"Well, here goes. Back when I was 16, I enlisted for the 7th Cavalry Regime. Little did I know that a few months later I would participate in Wounded Knee."

She tiled her head, "What was Wounded Knee?"

Booker shook his head, "You don't want to know. I did terrible things there Elizabeth, things that I couldn't shake off. A year after the that I met a beautiful woman."

"My mother."

"Yes. But fate had something else in mind for the two of us. She became pregnant, with you. Day of the operation came, but only one made it out. The doctors kept pushing me to give you a name, and I could barely think of one. So I said Anna."

"My name is Anna?"

"I can start calling you that if you like."

She thought about it for a second, "I think I'll stick with Elizabeth. I don't want you thinking of me as Anna, might be back some of your memories."

_Maybe she's right. Maybe if I think of her as Elizabeth now, it'll help me forget._ He continued on with his story, "After that I got worse. I wasn't ready to be a single father, hell, I wasn't ready to be a father at all. I worked for the Pinkertons, but got discharge because I was too violent. I went on to become a private investigator, but alcoholism and gambling took over. Soon my gambling debt was so high, people wanted my head. I was scared, Elizabeth. I was young, stupid, and scared. Then a man, Robert, offered to pay off my debt, and being 18 I gladly accepted. Then he told me the conditions. 'Bring us the girl, and wipe away the debt.' I thought about it for a few days, but more and more people started to threaten me, and that pushed me over the edge. So I gave you to him. That was the worse decision of my life, and I realized it. But I was too late. I tried to find you, and I saw Robert in an alleyway with a tear in front of him. Comstock was there, and he was holding you as Robert and Rosalind kept the tear open. I grabbed Comstock as he stepped through the tear, but he wrestled me off. The tear closed down and you reached out at me. But not all of you made it. The tear cut off -"

"My finger," Elizabeth cut him off. There was a moment of silence between them before Booker continued, "Then I rotted away in my office for the next 20 years. I had no clue what to do with my life. Everything seemed pointless. The two most important people in my life were gone, and I was the only one to blame. Then Robert came back and offered me a way to get my life back. To get you back."

"And that's where we are now? You came to Columbia to get me, and here we are. Away from it all."

Booker was a little hesitant, "Well, not exactly. But before I tell you, you have to give me your word."

A quizzical look came on her face, "And that would be?"

"Once we kill Comstock. THIS Comstock, we're done. We go on with our lives and forget about Columbia."

"I'm not quite sure I follow Booker, but I guess I'll agree. What else is there? Everything you've said lined up."

"You forget, there was another Booker. This next part may get confusing for you. I went to Columbia and saved you Elizabeth. We were in Emporia, on our way to Comstock House to get away from all the Vox madness. But before we could make it, Songbird took you. I tried to go after you, but as I crossed the bridge to Comstock House, I unknowingly stepped through a tear. I went through Comstock House, and I could hear you screaming in pain. Believe me, that was the worst thing I've ever heard in my life. When I came to the end I saw you. An older version of you. She explained to me that she had brought me to her universe, one that was farther along its timeline, through the tear at the bridge. She told me that I would just get killed by Songbird if I tried to rescue you. Then she gave me a note that was a cipher for you, and sent me back to the original universe, but 6 months had already passed. From there I saved you, we killed Comstock, and we destroyed the siphon. Then you showed you and a lot of other Elizabeths killed me back at Wounded Knee in hopes of never letting Comstock happen. After that I have no clue what happened. I just remember being back in my office, and I looked for you, but you weren't there. The Luteces talked to me, and brought me back to Columbia to save you again. THAT'S where we are now."

She shook her head, "You weren't kidding when you said confusing."

The farmer spoke up, "You city folk are too confusing for my taste. Experimenting with the universe and all that. I prefer growing vegetables."

The three laughed and didn't talk about Columbia or Booker's past for the rest of the ride. Elizabeth could tell it bothered him, so she didn't want to pry. An hour later, they arrived at the city. They hopped off the cart and said their thanks and goodbyes to the farmer. Booker looked around and headed for a nearby grocery shop, "Stay close to me Elizabeth."

"Okay Booker, I'm right behind you."

They stepped in and Booker headed for the cashier, "Excuse me miss, where are we?"

"Southampton. Why? You two new around here?"

"No, we just got a bit lost. Thanks."

They left the store and Booker stood there for a moment. "Booker, what's Southampton?"

He looked at her, "It's a city just a little bit away from New York."

"What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking we need to go to New York. Might be able to convince the Pinkertons to help me. Slim chance, but it's worth a try."

"Well, whatever you decide to do, I'm with you."

It warmed his heart knowing that Elizabeth fully trusted him. He wasn't so sure how exactly they'd get to New York. He actually preferred if they walked there. He wanted to take his time, and to spend as much of it with Elizabeth as he could.

Reality snapped at him as he heard Elizabeth cry out, "Booker! Over there!"

He turned to where she pointed, and a bright light flash. For a second he didn't know what it was, but the image became clearer. It was a tear.

* * *

**Sorry for taking so long with this! Finals week has been hell. Okay, not really, but I needed to study for them to make sure that I passed with an A. Anyways, guess what that means? Summer! So more updates!**

**EDIT: I'm SO sorry for not posting in a LONG time, but I've hit a major writer's block with the next chapter. I just can't find the right words to put in. I've literally wrote it 8 different times, and I was just never satisfied. And I figured, if I'm not satisfied, how could the readers? Hopefully the block will find the heart to move after these agonizing weeks.**


End file.
